The perfect Diamond
by Bubblewand156
Summary: While collecting his thoughts about life, Luigi is plunged into events that will change his life forever. Saving a girl from armed beasts was not on his check list that evening. She and Luigi must find the 5 Element charms before the Multiverse is doomed. (Warning: Bad language, blood, violence and sensitive subjects.)
1. Chapter 1

The Perfect Diamond

chapter 1

It was a hot, bright sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The bees were buzzing, the birds were singing and- "HELLO" came a voice from a loud, disturbing toad interrupting the peace. It was only 6 am in the morning and still, the citizens of the kingdom were still up, spreading their happiness and love to the world, but this did not disturb the superstar heroes from their much needed peaceful slumber.

Mario and Luigi were still in bed, when at this time they were normally awake. I don't blame them, after the day they went through yesterday, I would oversleep too. You may be wondering, what happened to make them so tired? Well, I shall tell you.

It is because of King Koopa (better known as Bowser), he got his dirty claws on the princess AGAIN. No big surprise there, but this time he actually USED his brain to sneak into the castle, surprise the guards by tying them up in rope and stole the fair Princess Toadstool, (also better known as Princess Peach). That meant the Mario bros had their work cut out for them... **AGAIN**.

They were expected to have this glorious plan to save the Mushroom Kingdom's monarch, which is easier said than done. The icing on the cake was the bros had to do it on their own, yellow toad would help them with their mission normally. However, this time he was filling in for Dr. Toadley, as he was on an expedition for more herbs and power up's for the MKMC (Which if you want to know, stands for 'Mushroom Kingdom's Medical Centre'). This was basically, the WORST idea conceived by Toad kind... EVER. Yellow kept mixing up the pills and treating the ill toads with a bubble wand, yeah, guess what happened there. He was so accurate with his aim; ironically, he hit everyone in the eye SEVERAL times, including Toadsworth. The "father" figure of Princess Toadstool and secretly, Mario and Luigi. Due to the disaster that unfolded, Toadsworth put himself in charge of the hospital, until Dr. Toadley came back. Which went A LOT better than before, but Yellow had to stay behind to be Toadsworth's assistant, which meant no adventures with the bros.

Then there was Toad, one of the Mushroom Retainers who had to fill in when Toadsworth took charge of the hospital. With the monarch out of commission, someone must fill in until the Princess returned. This was meant to be Toadsworth's job, but as he was at the hospital, Toad had to fill in. He was going with Mario and Luigi until the job fell upon him like a sack of potatoes. So Toad was now out, which meant only Yoshi was left.

Finally, they had to rule out Yoshi. The only reason was he went off looking for fruit... 5 DAYS AGO! As Yoshi's love fruit and there are so many fruit patches in the Mushroom Kingdom ALONE, not counting the other 10 KINGDOMS. There was no time to look for 1 Yoshi, so they left him behind.

With no one except each other, they thought the best plan was to infiltrate Bowser's castle with brute force and rescue Princess Peach. Which worked, but only by the skin of their teeth (This is WHY we have battle plans BOYS). Mario used a fire flower and not an ice flower like Luigi, which Bowser is immune to (elements are key to battles which the enemy is weak to). Mario got knocked out, which only left Luigi to take down the King of the Koopas. With his experience with this type of power up, King Koopa was defeated and the Princess was rescued. Luigi carried Mario back home to bed, tucked him in and kissed on the cheek, before heading to dreamland himself.

*Tomorrow* he thought to himself, *I will have to do my diary entry, I'm too tired tonight*. So with that promise to himself in his mind, Luigi turned in for the night. He dreamed about what was going to happen tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 2

Mario's pov

When I woke up the next day, I felt like a truck had smashed me in the face, I didn't remember a lot of what happened. The only thing I did remember was getting hit by King Koopa and darkness surrounding me. The next thing I knew, I was tucked into my comfortable bed. Before getting out of my safe haven though, I guessed it was about 10:00 am, before finding out what the actual time was. It's a game me and my brother play to see who is closer to the actual time. Most of the time Luigi wins, but I do get my fair share of victories as well. When I finally got out of my ever so peaceful bed, I realize that Bowser hit me HARD.

There were bruises and small scars covering my lower arms, legs, and torso. This was not including the black and blue bruises dotted around too. It took me a long time to see the REAL damage Bowser had caused to my already broken body, but when I did... It gave me a shock, to say the least. Deep gashes located all over my chest and the top half of my legs, this was not including my face either. However, all of the wounds I have received by the reptilian creep had been treated with natural herbs and remedies, as I could feel the oil still on my skin. Yet, this was not on my mind. What was on my mind was how Bowser was able to deal that much damage with one blow? Nonetheless, I could not stand there all day thinking about this. So, I decided it was time to snap into reality from question city and get ready for the day. Due to my injuries I had to steadily hoist myself out of bed, just to stand a chance to be able to get to the dressing table, where my clothes were located. Although, I had to work little by little to get to my desired destination. So, I aimed for the closest tangible furniture in the room. The chair.

After some stumbling around from furniture to furniture, I finally got to the dresser. So then I could put on my iconic red shirt, overalls and iconic hat (Which was very fiddly with the bandages around me), before looking at the cuckoo clock located on the wall on the landing.

After some **more** fooling around, I found the cuckoo clock. Which displayed that the time was 10:23 am in the morning! *Did it take me 23 minutes just to get changed! Just shows how badly wounded I am from the fight the other day* I thought to myself. Then I remembered about my brother Luigi, *Weege must be awake by now, but I should still check.* So with that, I started to walk through the strangely long hallway. *Strange, I don't remember the hallway being this long? I think it's just my imagination... Hopefully*.

When I finally got to the door of my brother's room, (which I felt took me hours to get to), I peaked around the creamy coloured door. "Luigi" I whispered, but no one answered. So, because of this, I called again but this time, a bit louder. "Luigi, are you in here?" silence. With no response, I slowly opened the newly painted door to find that, he wasn't in the room the entire time. *I thought he wouldn't be in his room. I'll go downstairs, he should be eating his breakfast, if not, I'll look in the garden*.

If you didn't know, Luigi has his own private garden at the back of our humble pipe home, which houses some of the most powerful power up's in the 10 kingdoms. I will try and pick the most memorable ones from the top of my head, the lightning flower, the sun shroom and the moon shroom. But this doesn't mean we don't also have normal power up's in the garden too. Which I'll admit, are much more powerful than the ones you buy from the shop. Luigi does an amazing job caring for the plants, but there is this one plant he spends the most of his time with.

The Elemental Flower.

This flower was a pain to obtain because there is only one seed in existence. Which means this power-up is the rarest of all the known power up's in the earth. So because of this fact, my little bro will do anything in his power to make sure the flower won't wilt and die. What is so special about this power up? Well, The Elemental Flower will grant you with an element you correspond to, these elements are: water, earth, air, fire, and there are rumours that you can even control the stars themselves! Not only that, the power it grants you is permanent! Because of this fact, we are the secret guardians of the plant. Grambi knows what will happen if any evil gets their grimy hands on it. It could be the end of existence as we know it! So we stay on high guard even in our sleep so no one will get The Elemental Flower.

Then, suddenly the cuckoo clock bird came out of his small wooden window and started to peck me on the nose, which broke me out of my trance. "Oi, get off you wooden, good for nothing bird!" I yelled. Just after my final sentence stopped echoing down the hall, the tiny, little wooden bird popped back into its penthouse like nothing had ever happened.

After that pointless yelling at an inanimate object; which would not help anything except from my mental state, I sluggishly made my way downstairs, to hopefully join my brother Luigi for breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

The perfect diamond

Chapter 3

Luigi's Pov

When I first hopped downstairs, I thought that the first thing on my to do list was to make breakfast. So when Mario woke up from his well-needed nap, he would have something to satisfy his hunger. Although, I did not know what to make for him, then I remembered Mario's state of health. *If I was in Mario's situation, what would I want to eat when I woke up? ...My favourite dish, that's what I should cook! *

My brother's favourite dish; spaghetti and meatballs. This was no surprise to anyone living here that this meal is Mario's favourite, he would NEVER stop talking about it! Food is always on the brain (except when the princess is captured, then it is her on the mind). So when he is at a party, it was Mario's job and routine to check the buffet table and check if the pasta dish was available. If so, NO ONE gets the luxury to taste the meal. If not... Well, let's say that Mario won't let the topic go. Now, when I make spaghetti and meatballs, I use my secret recipe which is very personal to me. It is because this recipe was given to me by my mother, she taught me personally how to make the best pasta sauce to our ability. I wish not to say anymore. I shook that thought out of my head and started to cook.

The dish would take a long half hour to be at the perfect taste, so I decided to practice my hover boarding skills for the Grand Prix. Which, was coming up in a few days. The hover boarding Grand Prix is an event that happens every year without fail, even if the weather decided it would be a thunderstorm. After Professor Egad made the first levitation device. The Princess decided to start hover races, but kart racing would still be a great part of the sporting events held here in the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond. Everyone agreed with the idea and now, this type of sport has integrated into the Mushroom Kingdom's culture and the rest of the 10 Kingdoms. For this sport, you have to make a hoverboard to compete. So, as I was the one who made our board's, I wanted to make sure that they would work properly before the big day arrived. Mario has no idea that I made him his hoverboard and I am not going to tell him. Not only that, but I also made most of the parts for them. My big brother thinks you can just go a buy them anywhere, parts and all. This belief is untrue, YOU yourself have to make them even the parts and any extras you want on. He does not know how lucky he is that I am building it for him. However, if I let him try to make one small component of the hoverboard, I might as well say goodbye to the expensive metal and not only the metal, probably the house as well. As if you are not careful with the motor, it can... blow..up. Right stop thinking about it, Luigi. You've got a job to do.

So, first I tested Mario's hoverboard, which is the Superior one out of the two. I just wanted to make sure that he would not hurt himself while using the high tech machine. His board has level 3 boosters, fans and air containers, but is much heavier than mine. Which you could say balance out the two boards, but this weight only makes the handling hit rock bottom. Anyway, the air containers are the most important part of the hoverboard, because hover boards run on air.

To collect air you must do tricks in the air so the fans can have the chance to suck up the breeze. This means the more tricks you do, to more air you will collect. If you run out of air, you can't use your hoverboard. So, to be able to get back into the race, you'll have to run to the closest ramp, hop onto the board and get some tricks in the jump to get air back into your board. As I know Mario well, I think he will do the most tricks possible in a jump. So that is why I had installed huge air containers, which means he can ride his board for longer when there are no ramps nearby to get any more air for the board.

After I put Mario's board neatly back onto the rack, which I made for the hoverboards and covered it up with the sheet (As Mario has not seen his board yet). I move swiftly to my board. This solid board has level 2 boosters and air containers, but makes up for that with level 4 fans, its light weight and my techniques. This board only weighs about 50 kg's, which is a big difference if you compare it to Mario's hover device. His board weighs about 90 kgs. I was going to make Mario's hoverboard as light as mine is, which is made out of titanium, but he insisted on having a heavy board when I went to "buy" it. I didn't understand the logic in that, you have everything to gain with a light board. However, I never argued about it. If that's what Mario wants than that is what Mario will have. Well everyone has their different tastes and should be allowed to have their own opinions. So I let him, as there were no rules saying how heavy your board had to be. Which is a big plus if you ask any professional hoverboard builder (Which I will say I am definitely not).

After the test runs on the hoverboards, which went magnificently smoothly I have to say, I made my way inside so I could serve breakfast and take it to the table. I served the mouth-watering food, and I was about to call Mario down for his hearty meal, until I heard someone coming down the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 4

There, standing in the doorway was Mario, he still looked tired from yesterday but he was walking around. This surprised Luigi because of how badly hurt Mario was the other day, he was able to walk around nearly as well as he did before the disaster of the battle.

"Good morning Mario, did you sleep well?" Luigi asked, worried about his brother's current condition.

"Fine thank you, any important letters arrived yet?"

"No..not yet, I was about to-" just before Luigi could finish his sentence, a Paratroopa who goes by the name of Parakarry swooped in to deliver the days post. Parakarry was the most incompetent, and unfornuately the only, mail koopa assigned for the kingdom.

"MAIL CALL" he bellowed, if he was near any windows at that point in time, he would have shattered them completely. No glass is safe when Parrycarry is around, mark my words. Once, he broke HALF of the glass windows at the front of the castle, just by saying that small line (This ALSO included the stain glass window picturing the Princess). So after the unnecessary glass shattering racket, Mario went to get the post off him before he could do any more damage to his weak ears.

"Morning Mario! Here's your post"

"Parrycarry, was there any need to shout like that? You know, you were only about 113 cm away from the house." Mario stated, which was true as Luigi measured the length from the post box to the front door. For some reason.

"Sorry, you know I take my job seriously"

"Yeah, we know" Luigi came out to say (jokingly), before Mario could think to answer Parakarry's sentence with the exact same three words.

"O good morning to you green mar... em I mean Luigi" Parakarry corrected himself, forgetting Luigi's name **again** like everybody else does.

"Good morning to you to Parakarry " He greeted politely, pretending that he didn't hear Parrycarry almost say 'green Mario'. However, he did which offended him quite a bit.* Well, at least he changed it at the last second, that is an improvement. Right?*

"Well I must be off, more deliveries to make in so little time"

"Bye Parrycarry, see you tomorrow!" The Mario bros cried in unison as the Paratrooper flew away to cause more distruction to the kingdom. When they couldn't see the mail Koopa anymore. They headed back inside to read the post and to eat breakfast, which by now must be lukewarm.


	5. Chapter 5

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 5

Mario's Pov

When We finally got into the house after our discussion with Parakarry. I saw the meal my brother cooked me while I was sleeping, spaghetti and meatballs. I immediately rushed to the table to get my share of the dish, even though I was in pain. My baby brother obviously saw this and stepped in..

"Mario, why are you running!" He cried, "You have not fully recovered yet. Do you think that straight after an incident that knocked you out, you can run around just like nothing happened?!"

"Luigi, I'm fine. Don't worry about me" I tried the reinsure him... It didn't work

"I have to, it is my JOB to worry!"

Wait, what?... "Luigi? Is something wrong?" I could see his eye divert his vision, wanting to drop the discussion. I knew if I pushed it, I would set him off. I've done that before many times, which makes the problem harder to handle. For everyone.

"M-Mario please sit down. You need to rest" My brother insisted. So, I had to oblige to him. I sat down on the chair nearest to the stairs, as it was "my" seat. Luigi always got wound up if I sat at the chair nearest to the window, I have no idea why. Maybe because the window has the best view of the garden, it has to be it.

Ignoring his needs was the worst thing I could have done.

"You are worse than I thought!" I suddenly realised that Luigi was checking my wounds on my legs, which startled me for my instincts to interfere. This caused me to almost kick his head in surprise. Thank Grambi for Luigi's lightning quick reflexes.

"Mario...I- I am sorry, I.."

"No, it's my fault. Stop being so formal to me, we're brothers! You're always like this... Why?"I saw some blood rush to his cheeks, making them a light pink for a split second.

"It.. It is nothing to worry about" Luigi blurted out "In any case, do you want me to warm up your breakfast? It must be freezing cold by now."

"If you could" I replied, so my brother took my plate and turned on the cooker (As in the Mushroom Kingdom we don't have microwaves because of the damage it causes to the brain and the food). *I should be warming up my food, not my baby brother!* I finally realised a bit too late.

"Luigi, do you want to sit down and let me take over, after all, it is my food?"

"No Mario, it is fine. I can do it" So, I left him to warm up the dish, while I looked at the letter the Princess sent us. I won't ever forget what the envelope always smells like, "Peaches" I thought out loud, not realising that everyone could hear me.

"What? Um, I mean pardon?"

"Oh, sorry I spoke out loud. Forget it." So he did, and I went back to the letter. The letter with the wax print with the mushroom emblem, the letter with the frilly border and the letter with the pink, swirly writing. This letter had the neatest handwriting I had ever seen in my life (Up to that point), showing a lot of effort was put into it * A little bit too much effect* I thought.

"Are you going to open the letter, or are you going to stare at the envelope for hours?"

I suddenly looked at Luigi with shock, realising that he wa...

"JUST OPEN IT!"

"Ok. Ok, I will" So after my shock for the day, I opened the letter.

Dear Mario

I invite for you to come to my castle, to discuss the plans for the hover racing Grand Prix with the rest of the committee. The meeting will start at 12 pm precisely. I do hope you will attend, it is of the utmost importance that everything runs smoothly. I hope to see you there.

From Princess Peach

"I better get going, it's..." I see the time, which is 11.45.

" But, your breakfast..."

"I'll eat it when I get back, ok?" Then I see the concern in Luigi's eye, he needs to stop worrying all the time.

" Do you need any help to get there?" He imminently replied.

"No, I can get there just fine. You stay here until I get back from the meeting, keep yourself busy. Ok?"

"...O...k"

"I'll be back as quick as I can, I promise." After that. Silence. I had no time to ask why though, I grabbed a small something before I rushed out of the house.

Leaving my brother with his dark thoughts


	6. Chapter 6

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 6

Luigi's Pov

*So, he has left me again* I thought to myself

"Why do you leave me? Why did SHE leave me?!" I cried, I had been holding back this pain for days, but enough was enough. I knew bottling up emotions was the worst thing to do but I had to, for the only thing I have left is Mario so I have to keep it together. To keep him stable, to keep him in a happy mental state because I knew that is what my brother needs. So, if I wanted to let the fountain flow, I would have to do it away from society. Knowing full well how the citizens in the kingdom pounce on gossip like panthers, I just ignored the pain and started the housework I had to do for the day.

The housework chores are always done in this order:

. Washing up the plates and cutlery from breakfast

. Wiping the decks and table from water and grime

. Dusting the mantelpiece of the grime from the wood fire the other night and the rims of the ceiling

. Hoovering (Taking extra precautions that the cotton wool was in his ears at all times)

. Cleaning the bannisters of the stairs

. Cleaning the landing upstairs

. Making sure the beds are clean and don't need changing (Luigi changes the beds every week because of bed bugs)

. Getting the dirty washing into the washing machine

. Going shopping while waiting for the washing to finish

. Putting the shopping away

. Getting the washing outside and hanging it on the washing line

. Finally watering the plants around the house

After doing all that, I could finally enjoy my free time. Even though the time was probably about 5pm in the evening, I still went in to cool down mode before making tea for the night. I never have lunch as I think it is a waste of time when work needs to be done, I do not want to make Mario think I am a failure more than I already am. So, after reading my book (which was about The Treasure Pit located on Oak Island in the real world) I went to cook tea. Just then, I felt the emotional strain I need to let go. *I will have to do it later* I thought as I went downstairs to start on the lasagne. After I finished the meal, I placed it on the table and waited for Mario to return from his small meeting. I waited and waited but Mario still was not home, *I'll be back as quick as I can, he said but he is not, I knew I shou...*

Suddenly, something snapped me out of my thoughts... A door clicking open.


	7. Chapter 7

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 7

Suddenly, Mario burst through the door with his face bright red. You wouldn't even know which was redder, his face or his iconic hat which was slowly slipping off his head. Mario's hair was knotted, mud was all over his overalls, you could see patches of missing fabric, showing the cuts and bruises he had somehow received. Finally, one of his overall straps was cut in half, making that side of the overalls scrape on the ground, which had built up mud and leaves clinging onto it. In any way you put it, Mario looked like he had been to hell and back.

At that point, Luigi started to freak out. His mind raced through every possibility that could have happened at that meeting, to no avail. He could not explain it. As Luigi's brother stumbled over to the sofa and collapsed, the younger one rushed to the first aid kit, grabbed his chair from the kitchen table and slid it to where Mario was located. After that step, Luigi scanned the area for something to keep the red hero upright. So he could dress the wounds more easily. After what Luigi considered 'wasting' time (which was only 30 seconds), Luigi finally found the very thing he was looking for... pillows. So, he swooped in, grabbed them and slowly lifted up Mario to be able to place them under his back. With the hero in red elevated, it was time to dress the wounds. With Mario asleep, it would be much easier to achieve the task at hand. So, with that, Luigi got to work.

The bandages put on the other day were partially visable through the holes of his torn clothing, but at the same time, hidden from others who don't know they were there in the first place. This might be what Mario wanted.

"He does not want people to think he is weak and not a hero" Luigi whispered to himself, "But we had this discussion before, about 3 days ago. Did he not... listen to me? Again?"

"Never mind about that for now, you have to help your brother. He is in no state of protecting himself. At this time, he's putting his life in your hands. Relying on you to make the right decision. It's your choice if he lives or dies. So, what do you choose?"

"I... I need to save my brother" He replied, as he started to work harder than before.

Time passed, but there was no sign that Mario was going to wake up anytime soon. This got Luigi quite worried.

"Don't worry. Your brother will wake up soon, and then you can talk to him."

"O...Ok. Thank y-you. Em... can I ask you, something?" Luigi asked, pondering an important question. Who is this person speaking to me in my mind?

"Alright, if you want to"

"W-well, may I ask who are you? You have been 'talking' to me for a long while. B-but, every time I try to ask you who you are, you seem to disappear. Why is that?"

Luigi then heard a sigh in his mind as it continued.

"*sigh* I wanted to not answer that question, for a good reason, may I add. And I still won't... for now. I really want to tell you, but not now. Not this place. Not ONLY that, but I can't tell you why, either."

The mind went silent, as Luigi started to slouch in his chair. Feeling awful that he asked this 'thing' who he/she or it, was.

"However," He then perked up, by the shock that the being was still here. This never happened before when they talked to each other. "What I will say is this... I hope I will see you face to face soon" It replied. "Goodbye for now... Friend"

Then, it was gone. Leaving Luigi alone with only his unconscious brother, resting on the sofa.

A long time after...

"Uh...owww, umh. Oh, just 5 more minutes". This got Luigi out of his trance-like state and made him focus on what was happening around them.

"Please, 5 more minutes... mum"

"Mum?" Luigi whispered to his half-asleep brother, when; out of nowhere, something happened. Luigi's glove started to faintly glow. "No, no no no. Stop glowing!" He cried, and just like that. The glowing stopped right in its track. Mario; after hearing this, bolted upright.

"Luigi?!" He then turned straight at his brother with dread and concern. "Are you ok?" He then saw tears rolling down Luigi's cheeks. He was trying to hold them back, not to avail. Not only that but, he was also facing away trying not to attract any attention to himself. Seeing this, Mario tried to go and comfort his younger brother. "Weege? What's wro-" Mario's legs bucked underneath him, so badly he almost smack his head on the small coffee table. Thank goodness Luigi was able to catch him before any more damage could be done.

"Mario, please lie down. You are not in good enough shape for walking around yet" Luigi commented as he lay the hero clad in red, down back onto the sofa. "Now, please tell me what happened to you? You scared me to bits when you turned up like this"

"Luigi, tell me why you were crying first. I need to know."

"And I need to know what happened." He insisted, knowing too well that if he and his brother kept at this. The 'you go first' cliche will rattle on until dawn. Not wanting that to happen, Luigi suggested a better idea. "Shall we just go in order of events?"

"Fine, I'll go first." Mario stated as he began his 'story'. "Long story short, Bowser invaded the meeting"

"As per usual" Luigi interrupted

"Anyway, yes, Bowser interrupted the meeting. After I defeated him there was a bright light that engulfed the room and Bowser's eyes started to glow a yellow hue. Then he started to speak, his speech sounded like multiple voices mashed together. He said:

"Beware the visitor tonight, beware her intentions. She will only bring pain to you mortals. Do whatever you want to her but confine her until the group who wear yellow cloaks arrive. Beware... Beware."

"After that... he collapsed to the floor like nothing happened"

"What does that mean?" Luigi questioned, 'could this be linked with the one who was speaking to me before?' Then he remembered what it, said to him before it went.

"I hope I will see you face to face soon"

"Luigi?" He then snapped back into reality "Are you ok?"

"Yeah... just dandy" He replied, only in small talk, however.

"Weege, something is bothering you. You have been like this for weeks. I could tell you were trying to cover it up, but I could still see it every time. What's wrong?"

Luigi was tense when Mario said that, but he knew he had to answer. So, he sat back in the chair, brought it closer to the sofa and started to answer the question... at least part of it.

"Well, I heard you speaking to yourself when you started to wake up. You were talking to... mum"

This caught Mario off guard, the reason being that the brothers don't talk about their parents very often. As if it was a taboo. Due to not talking about their parents, Luigi assumed that Mario didn't want to even think about it. So, he kept it to himself, and only himself. Luigi writes about his parents in his diary everyday, trying to take the pain away. Which never worked. However, in reality, Mario wanted to talk about them more often. He just didn't know what to say about this sensitive topic without upsetting his brother. That is why he always waited for his brother to start the conversation about them.

"I... don't remember" Mario confessed, "Is, this why you have been upset recently?"

"N-no. I-it is..n't... never mind, you looked tired an-"

"You changed the subject" he interrupted, fully aware of why. Or so he thought.

" Can... we, talk about this tomorrow? I think I need time to think." Luigi replied, trying to buy some time.

"Very well, but you have to tell me. Ok?" *I just worry about you, bro* Mario added in his mind.

"Very well, master. Your wish, is my command" Luigi replied bowing cheekily like he was in a performance of Aladdin or something.

"Hahahaha, you never cease to make me smile" Mario commented, as his brother helped him up and aided him to his bed.

Just as the duo started walking up the stairs, something dropped out of Mario's pocket and drifted onto the wooden floor at the bottom. Luigi noticed it but he had to get his brother to bed first, so when they finally got to the landing. Luigi asked him:

"Can you get to your bedroom by yourself?"

"I should be able to" Mario replied as he let go of the green plumber and was able to stand without falling over. "Yep, I'm fine. Thank you bro"

"Anything for you, bro" he replied, not knowing what to say next.

"Goodnight Weege" Mario cried sleepily, as he closed his wooden bedroom door.

After seeing Mario going to his bedroom, Luigi ventured downstairs to find the dropped item. It wasn't hard to locate it, as it was in plain sight. Luigi bent down and retrieved the item (which was a photo) and got a shock to the system.

The picture was him and his brother standing with their late parents.


	8. Chapter 8

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 8

Mario's Pov

I closed my cream coloured door, to the clean bedroom and started to get ready for bed. However, before I could get to the dresser, I heard someone going downstairs.

"It's probably my brother" I replied to my thought as I went back to the task at hand. It was hard to move around with all those bandages wrapped around my body. I couldn't understand how I was being destroyed by Bowser so easily... recently at least. It made no sense, but I had to keep it in mind, there had to be something I'd overlooked. It could be something to do with what happened earlier that day. "Hem...Bowser, what are you up to?" Suddenly, I was flung backwards as I slipped on the rug underneath my feet, even though I just lifted my right leg. Something softened my fall... a pillow maybe? *A pillow?! How did that get there? * I slowly picked myself up from the soft surface and turned around to face the soft fabric. The pillow was of a shape of a star, with a blue border and the rest of the pillow was a golden yellow. I had never seen this cushion in my life and I wanted to know how it had got into my house. I was too tired to think about it at this moment, so I placed the cushion on my bed and went back to getting ready for bed. I staggered to the dresser, where I took off my hat and overalls and replaced them with red striped pyjama trousers. After that, I started to head for the bathroom. As I was about to stumble out the door, I realised that I had forgotten to take off my shirt. I immediately rushed to the dresser (as fast as my body would handle, which as only a very slow jog. Really it was more like fast walking). I switched the red shirt for my pyjama top and finally, after the delay, I went to the bathroom to give my teeth a good brush.

The bathroom looked normal, which I was glad for after the weird things that had been going on that day.

This was until I turned on the tap.

The water coming from the tap was purple, with what looked like stars pouring out. I slowly turned off the tap and stepped back in shock. I decided I would forget about brushing my teeth and sluggishly walked back to my room, switched off the light and felt around for my bed. After a few bumps, I discovered the bed, hosted myself in and fell unconscious. Failing to hear the front door downstairs closing shut.


	9. Chapter 9

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 9

Luigi's Prov

I stared at the picture of my childhood, which I had only faint memories of, for less than a couple of minutes, no more, no less. This was the time of day when I could get my some free moments of need alone time. I could not waste this I thought as I put the old but well-maintained picture inside the secret pocket of my hat.

I had work to do.

First on the list was writing in my diary, which I do every day. I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote an entry in broad daylight. It had been that long. Neither could I remember what I put in my last entry. Life wrapped me up in its cold, unforgiving hands so that I had no time for my self anymore. That is why night time calls to me, whispering words of freedom from all of lifes stresses.

Anyway, I slowly open the door to the dampest place in the house...the basement.

This underground room was the embodiment of cold, damp and dingy. It reminded me of Bowser's dungeon as it was almost identical. Apart from the furniture in the corner (a table and chair to be specific), the bookshelf which covers a secret exit to the middle of Seracerland, for some reason. There was also uneven ground in one corner of the room. Finally, a large chest in the other corner of the room.

This chest looked like your stereotypical treasure chest pirates would hide their buried treasure in. However, the question owas, what was inside it?Well... I don't know. My brother said to me when we first moved into this house to never open it... NEVER! It confused me why this huge storage item had never been opened for what looked like a great many years! There must be a reason why it must be closed at all times, maybe there is a curse in it that can transport you to a different dimension. Or an item that can give you the ability to harness control over time or... something very personal to our family, or...I had other things to do though. So after my old ideas resurfaced, I started to write my entry for the day.

After that was over and done with. I went upstares to go and grab the items of clothing I needed for the night. Suddenly, I heard some loud banging noises coming from Mario's room. So, as I went past I peaked through the gap in the door, to find out that my brother just knocked over his chair in the corner. *That was a relief* I thought to my self as I tiptoed past his door to my own bedroom; hoping I wasn't making too much noise, I sluggishly opened the door and stepped inside.

My room was nothing special. Just a bed with a green duvet cover, a green pillow, a nightstand next to it which had a clock and a small lamp resting upon it, a walk in small wardrobe and a mirror on the far wall. This was including a decent sized window, which I could sit on, put my legs to my chest with my arms around them and look out at the world outside. This always reminded me of a movie and as I did this, I felt a part of one. Even though this was all that was in my room, what was tucked in the corner of my wardrobe was much more interesting(Well, I think it is anyhow). It houses one of my most treasured items which I inherited... my Mum's cloke.

The cloke is very generic, it's coloured in an old, darkish brown, with 3 stripes located at the end. The size of the cloke... well let's say it is way too large for Mario to wear. Anyway, this cloke is very special, what I mean is that it has a special magic property woven into it. It isn't mind-blowing, but it adds more personal touch to it. The property of the cloak is, the stripes at the bottom change colour dependant on the wearer. When my mum wore it, the stripes were a light pink colour. However, ever since I put it on, the stripes changed to a colour which represents an emerald green. That is all the cloke really does, changes colour to whoever wairs it. Despite this, it does the main purpose of what a cloke should do... keeps you warm, and it passes that test with flying colours. So, for that reason, and also because it was my mothers, I put it on most of the time, tonight was no exception. I slipped it on, put the hood over my head and hopped downstairs to the door. I looked upstairs once more, only hearing silence as I opened the door to the outside world, letting the cold breeze brush past me I closed the door behind me.

Tonight was very warm, as it was the middle of summer, it made sense, except that it has never been THIS warm the other nights I had been out.

Something wasn't right.

No one was outside doing their nighttime jobs. No light's were on in houses or the street lamps (they were very old lamps from the Victorian times I bleave). The sky... the sky was a pinkish purple with stars everywhere you look. You could also see the planets from here, the size of them was as large as the kingdom itself! It felt like I was standing in the heart of the universe, gorgeous, and terrifying at the same time! It was hard to comprehend what was going on, but however you put it.

Something just wasn't right.

Despite these random feelings, I carried on with the job that I do every night now, as I don't have time in the day anymore. This duty, which I gave myself, was best dealt with at night, like everything else. This job is not interesting nor important but it is something that I have always done and will do for a long time. This job is to make sure that everything in the kingdom is running smoothly. Which I mean by... I-I mean... I... I make sure everyone in the kingdom is happy and healthy. It sounds cheesy I know, but what's the point of saving people if they are not happy nor healthy? They wouldn't be able or don't want to do their jobs properly, no one would want to go outside and enjoy whatever the weather gave them like sunshine or snow, and everyone would be feeling down. This is why once a month I organise a small event in the square so then everyone has something to look forward to if they work hard and keep the kingdom running. Not only that but if the toads stop working, the kingdom would be unable to stand for long until the place would collapse. This would be awful as we are basically the Capital City of this world. All the other kingdoms would fall with it... this happened before, in a different situation I shall not mention, but despise to say this is why this job has to be done. In any case, I enjoy it as it gives me something to do, and it makes me feel like I have a place in society.

Now, everyone has a special item I have to deliver and I have to remember ALL of them! So because of this, I always keep a list in handy if I ever forget. However, the hardest thing to understand about the list is that EVERYONE IS CALLED TOAD! (Except Toadsworth and Toadette, but they still have toad in it) So, it gets confusing, very confusing. Any case, I start my rounds for the night. I don't remember most of the round for some reasion. The only parts I remember is house 25, where I give the Toad a pint of milk for the morning, house number 11 where I give Toadettte her munch of wildflowers and house number 35 where I give 3 bags of groceries to a family of 5.

After my rounds were finished, I made my way to one of the tallest cliffs in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peaks Cliff. (The actual name is peak cliff but Peaks Cliff sounds better) This cliff has some bad memories embedded into the ground but also my happiest and now, my saddest memory in my life up to that point. This was the place where me and Daisy, Princess of Seracerland became partners. This place has been in my dreams ever since we broke up and the worst part of it all... I don't know why she wanted to leave me. We had been together for a long time, I finally was accepted by her parents to be with her. *All the stars were aline, where did it all go wrong?* I thought to myself as I looked to the stars for answers. Knowing all to well I wasn't going to get any. So, instead, I took the picture Mario had earlier out and let old memories fluid back into my conscious mind.

This picture was the last one that was taken with us together... as a family. Me and Mario were standing at the front of the photo, while mum and dad were at the back. At the time, my brother and me were wearing navie-blue jeans, a red t-shirt for Mario and a green t-shirt for me and finally our signature hats. Our father wore the same clothing as my brother, but the colours were inverted. Instead of navie-blue overalls and a red shirt, it was red overalls and a neve-blue shirt. And not forgetting his hat as well, which was also like Mario's but with no M on it. Finally, our mum wore an emerald green dress with the brown cloke around her. She also had brown leather boots on to compleat the look, which went nearly up to her knee. She looked like a warrior, even her eyes reflected that mentality. In the background was Knoll's Hill, Knoll stands for hill so it's called Hill's hill... I think they ran out of ideas. I don't remember how old I was when this picture was taken, but I looked quite young, maybe around the age of 7. I miss them... a lot.

Suddenly there was a bright light shooting across the sky, with other small lights following it. Not only that but small green orbs of light were trying to hit the main light. In any case, whatever it was, it was heading towards the castle. As I thought it might hurt the Princess, I put the picture away and started to run towards the castle. However, when I got halfway there, the bright light was shot down causing the ground to shake as if it was an earthquake. It took me another minute or two to get there, but when I did... it was a shock to my system. Lying there was a woman.. unmoving, she wore a very fancy dress with stars that had blue borders inside of them. For some reason, I looked into the sky to see the lights following the woman were actually people that were heading towards us! I stretched my arms out and closed my eyes, waiting for the impact... but it never came. When I opened my eyes again, I saw a light green orb surrounding me. Not only that but my hand was glowing again, and this glowing moved from my hand to in front of me. Then I started to build power, the orb went back into the object and was released. The result... baffled me. A hypernova unfolded before me. Anything in front of it turned into... butterflies?! Before I knew it, the thing went back to my hand like nothing happened. I shouldn't of done that. I shouldn't of done that. I shouldn't of done that. I-

"Thank you, you saved me from a sticky situation. That was amazing!" the woman cried. I didn't look at her, I desperately looked for a way out. At that point, I could not be with anyone.

I needed space.

Finally, I was able to find a path to a forest on my right, and I took it. Running as fast as I could away from there.

"Wait, come back!"


	10. Chapter 10

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 10

? Pov

"Wait, come back!" I cried, after the man running into what I thought the people of this planet called a forest. It took some time until he disappeared. I turned back to see what my new surroundings were, grass below my feet, trees which were as large as a house! Everywhere I looked there was luscious green plants and life. It looked beautiful. However, I looked into the sky to see swirls of colour and the stars merged together and the planets appeared as if they were going to smash into this world! *Oh, no. What have they done!* I thought as I got up from the ground and dusted myself off, where I had made quite a large crater, to say the least. *I thought that they would let me go, like they did too - but apparently not. 'sigh' Nothing seems to be going right for me recently... Hang on, with me making such a loud racket WHY hasn't anyone came out to see what's happening?* I had expected people to come out, I decided to go to them instead and ask if I could have a place to sleep for the night.

First I went to house number 25 to ask. However, when I went to the door... no one answered. *Maybe they are deep sleepers, I'll try another house* So, I quietly went to house 35 instead. *Hopefully they will be light sleepers, not like the other house* I wishfully thought as I went to the door and rang the doorbell.

No answer.

*I'll.. try again*... no answer still. I waited and waited, but still no sound of the door unlocking. *I can't stay out here! What happens if they find me!* I started to panic at that point. I didn't want to be caught.. no, I couldn't be caught... if I was... no, it's too traumatising to consider. I wasn't thinking properly anymore, so I rushed to the closest house.. number 11, and frantically knocked as loud as I could. I knocked so loudly it echoed through the whole town... but STILL no answer! Something wasn't right. Instead of tapping on doors all night, I decided to look through the window of the house. I knew I shouldn't, I felt like a peeping tom, but I had to know what was going on. Bright lights, a large earthquake, also a massive HYPERNOVA should have been enough to wake everyone up, and they STILL slept right through it! It didnt make any sense to me.

I was able to find a crack in the curtains and peeked through, and what I saw.. was shocking. I was able to see stars, like on my dress, in their ears acting as ear plugs. *Oh no... no no no NO! This was the LAST thing I needed, where can I hide now! Oh come on, think... I know, the person who ran in the forest! Maybe he can help me, well I think it was a he anyway.* I rushed back to the grassy area I was in before and found the path through the trees. Without even thinking, I rushed in to find the person before and hopefully get help.

The forest I ran into, made me feel as if I was transported to another dimension. The bright moonlight was somehow able to penetrate the canopy of leaves the trees created, it was the embodiment of beauty and took my breath away. No sound could be heard in the forest, except the sound of my brown boots as I walked through this place where trees called their home. This was until I heard...*Muffled sobs?* I thought as I got closer and closer. I thought the source of the sound was a small cave in the middle of the forest. I peaked through the entrance to find... the one who saved me!

However, I wasn't the only one who was seen. He freaked out and turned to the corner, making his self as small as he could be.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you! *Why do I sound so formal, I hate it!* I added in my head. I... I didn't know what to the do, I thought it would be easy but life never goes easy for me. I brushed that thought aside, I needed to help him, even if I didn't know him. "E-Excuse me, can I sit down?" I tried to ask politely. He silently nodded, so I sat down not too far away from him. "I wasn't able to interduce myself before. My name is Stara, what's your name?"

"I don't like my name" he replied with no emotion in his voice. His crying died down into sniffles.

"Oh, ok.. em... I, just.. wanted to say thank you for saving me back there! I really needed it."

"I-I wasn't meant to do that" This time with more thought put into the sentence.

"Why not... Did someone tell you, you couldn't, or-"

"No... yes, maybe?.. C- can you be more specific?" Finally, I was getting to him. I just wanted to talk to someone, anyone who could understand what I was going through. For his sake and mine.

"Well... What I mean by is... Did someone tell you that you couldn't do... that, but could in emergencies?" I asked him, based on my past experiences.

"...Yes.. I was. I was only told to... do that for a final resort. However, I-I don't even know how I did it. That came out of nowhere!" He was used hand gestures like a pro, it made me realise just how frustrated and confused he was.

"Hang on, if you can't use your.. let us call ability but can only use them for emergencies? Then HOW can you use them for emergencies, if you don't know how to control it?! It makes no sense."

"I- never thought about it until now," He said, "But how am I going to learn how to control it?"

"Well.. maybe I can teach you" I offered. I knew my way through things like this, so this wasn't out of my league.

"N-no! You can't!" He cried

"Why not? I don't have to if you don't want to."

"No... I-I want to learn, but I can't"

"Why not?"

"Because I can't!" It this point, I was getting confused. First, I had no idea what he wanted. Did he want me to teach him or not? Secondly, how could he do something like that? I had never seen a human do something as amazing like it before, something wasn't right.

"This isn't answering ANY of my questions. We are just going around in circles! I don't know your name, I have no idea how you could do something like... that. I don't know if you want training or not, it's getting confusing! How can I help you if you won't TELL me!" He started to laugh at my frustration and the situation, and I couldn't help but to laugh as well. Our laughing made such a racket it could have woken the neighbours, luckily the neighbours were only birds. I remembered the most important objective I ha to complete before I could do anything else.

"Hey er.. can I ask you something?"

"If you want to. I don't know if I can help you though, I normally can't" He replied. Putting himself down, showing he was insecure of himself. Maybe I could help him with that as well.. if I have time.

"I wanted to ask if you knew anyone called Luigi, he-" I saw his eyes widen with a shock and disbelief, as if he saw something truly amazing.

"It-it's you!" He yelled as he ran and embraced me. "I thought you sounded familiar!" I was in shock myself... I finally found him.

"I... I can't believe it! I finally found you!" I cried. Soon after, Luigi let go and stepped back. I was now able to see him properly. He was wearing navy blue overalls, a green shirt, brown work shoes, white thick gloves and a green hat with an white L on it which was inside a white circle. He also had a black moustache and a large nose. Finally, his eyes were a light blu... something was off with them. I could feel as if they weren't his real eye colour but that wasn't a concern for now. I couldn't see his hair from this angle but I knew it fitted with the rest of his getup. "I've been longing for the day I would finally get to meet you in person! And I will say, it was worth the wait." Luigi just smiled at me and gestured for me to sit down next to him.

We talked and talked and talked for hours on end. Catching up on life and what each other have been up to. Except for me. I didn't want to talk about it... yet. It.. was too early and I just wanted to be friends. We eventually finished talking about how 'people have serious problems that make them look creepy' , Luigi then checked the time on his watch.

"My, It's 4am in the morning!"

"What! Where did the time go! Well, we better get you home."

"Hang on. Get me home, how about you?"

"Well...Wait. Are you saying that I am allowed to stay at yours?"

"What do you think I was trying to say? I may not know where you live, but considering you haven't tried to see me for so long, that means you don't live close to here. So, your'e going to need a place to stay for as long as you're staying in these parts."

"Thank you, I do need a place to sleep. But, I don't honestly think a sofa will be suitable and I'll be in your way. I could stay someplace else."

"No, you won't be in the way and besides, in the house, there is a spare bedroom we never use. You can sleep in there if you want to of course. Also, hopefully, my brother will be ok with that"

"Wait.. you have a brother? Oh, I should have known... oops."

"That's ok, but I don't think we should go tonight."

"Why not? Oh, please don't send me on the speech roundabout again!"

"Hahaha, probably! I just... don't want to go back" He looked away when he said that. Telling me he was lying.

"Well, we can't stay in the middle of a dark forest all night! Unless you want to stay with the creepy crawlies scurrying on the floor of course." I knew he would shiver when I said that, *I know you too well* I thought to myself as I saw Luigi searching the floor for these insects.

" 'sigh' you know me too well.. b-but..."

"But what? Are you worried about what your brother will think if he sees me staying at your house?"

"NO no it's not that... ok, maybe a little."

"Called it!"

"However, that isn't the... main reason why I don't want to go home. It's because I... don't want Mario to find out that I can do something like that. His reaction could lead to things going out of balance."

"Out of balance?"

"Yes, er" *how do I explain this* He thought before an idea came into view. "Well, it workes like this" Luigi stood up and grabbed a good stick which would hopefully not break the second it hit the ground and kneeled down in an area in the cave that had soft earth. "You see the world stays in this kind of motion.. this system if you will. An example of this would be... nature. Nature is structured by the Fibonacci sequence, you know that right?" He questioned.

"Yes, I do! I'm surprised that YOU know that, you didn't learn that at school did you?"

"No, we didn't for some reason. I only found out because... my.. family told me."

"Cool. I'm very interested in this topic, would the examples of the Fibonacci sequence be pine cones, trees and even when we clench our hands into a fist. Was that the evidence you were given and shown?"

"Indeed it was, how did you know?"

"Well because we were taught that at school. Exactly like that, very interesting." I replied

"Anyway, like I was saying. All of nature is made up of the Fibonacci sequence and not just the examples we just said. This system could be the same as the Fibonacci sequence but it's just a theory." At this point in the discussion, Luigi started to draw a large triangle with 3 smaller triangles around the edges, leaving only one triangle in the middle. "I haven't come up with a name for this but I'll figure it out in time. Now first," He pointed to the first triangle on the left. "This triangle is called 'courage'. The second triangle," Luigi then pointed to the triangle on the right "is called 'wisdom' and finally, the triangle at the top is called 'power'. Now, I believe this system is embedded in our lives one way or another. It's like the second bread and butter to our personality. Not only that but it fits with the Fibonacci sequence quite nicely. This is because this is the second step of finding out who you are. The first thing would be which day you were born on and time you were born. Even time is considered because even if the time is a couple of minutes off. It can change many things like where your planets are located on your star chart. The second step would be this system I have drawn here. This is the basics of the personality. The summed up conclusion of who you are as a person. However, as humans want more detail about who we are, we added more to the chart. So then we onto the third step. This step would be the elements because 3 visible triangles plus the 2 important facts about your birth, would be 5 elements to work with, this is how the Fibonacci works. 1+1 = 2, 2+ 1 = 3, 2+ 3 = 5 and so on and so forth. Anyway, the five elements can fit into the system as well. Except for one of them but we will come back to that later.

Let's start with the easiest of the three, 'power'. Power is obviously the strongest of the two but the others balance it out so if this triangle gets unstable, it can be stopped but only if the two work together. The element for this triangle would be fire, the strongest (on its own) and most dangerous element if it gets out of control. However, the same as the system, it can be stopped if it gets out of balance by the other elements. The next triangle to tackle would be 'wisdom'. This triangle holds great power and is most connected to the 5th element. This triangle piece represents physical but also inner wisdom. You could be one or the other. This links to the elements because the elements in this category is water and air. Yes, it's both as one represents the physical side of the wisdom, the other represents the inner wisdom. This triangle also comes with healing which links to the water and also telepathic abilities which link to air and the 5th element. As air is the strongest link to the 5th element than any other. Finally the final triangle 'courage', the hardest to give a definition on as it is one which is shrouded in rumours. However, this personality trait is the most well known just by name alone. Only the true holder of this personality trait knows it's full power. The element in this category is earth as this personality trait is stubborn as a rock but knows true evil when seen by their eyes. Not a lot of information is known about this triangle shard but it will be figured out in time." I looked at him with shock and disbelief! However, I wasn't able to evaluate as Luigi carried on.

"With ALL these elements in each category, you would think that whatever place you're in. That is the element you can bend, right? However, this is far from the truth. That is why the fourth step is the 13/12 zodiac signs. I shall not go in detail as this is very well known. The final fifth step is the star chart, this star chart can change depending on:

. Which astrology you use; sidereal and tropical. If you want to know, sidereal is much more accurate than tropical.

. Your date of birth

. Your time of birth

. Where you were born

All of this information is important for making a star chart. Again, I shall not go in detail because it gets confusing. Basically, the star chart tells you where all the planets are located in each zodiac sign and how many planets, comets and stars are in each element. The more planets in the element, the more it takes a role in your life. This also effects which element your more likely able to bend. Not only that, but it links to your personality which all links back to the beginning of the system of triangles." I was SHOCKED, to say the least. I didn't know a SINGLE person to know ALL that, even at home! How did he know ALL that as WELL as the triangular pendulum of personality!

"...Y.o.u k.n.o.w... ALL OF THAT!" I cried it just made no sense.

*No one here should know this, why does he? Maybe that's why we clicked when I first saw him.*

"Yea... what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just... NO KNOW KNOWS ABOUT IT!" Luigi fell on his back shocked by my outburst. I giggled and continued as he gets up. "You know the triangular pendulum of personality! Who told you this? I NEED to meet them!" I saw his face go from happy and surprised, to miserable in less than 2 milliseconds fast. "What's wrong, I.. didn't mean to-"

"...N-o... it's not your fault. It's my fault that I can't let it go..." At that very moment, I knew what he meant.

"Oh... I..."

"Can we talk about what you were saying before?" he muttered

"Yea, that's a better idea. So... I was saying that not many people know about triangular pendulum of personality. Very complicated name but it's easy to understand. Not like everything else, simple name but hard to understand. So what you are saying is basically, if one of the triangles is out of balance... then it is the job of the others to sort it out... right?"

"Yes that's what I was trying to say, but it came out a bit unclear. So if you want to ask questions, go ahead."

"I have two in fact. First, what happens if ALL of the triangles go out of line? My second question is what is the 5th element you were talking about before. I already know the answers of the two but I want to hear your explanation. You're just so fascinating!" I saw my friend put on a small smile.

"Realy! Well, the 5th element is associated by many different names like space, void, zero, spirit and finally the one we here call it 'Star'. This element represents all of the other elements as it's the origin of them. As stars are considered the building blocks of the universe and have made loads of the elements in the periodic table. You know the table I'm assuming."

"Yep, I researched it in my own time"

"Good, so 'star' has a bit of each element in it. However, star is the hardest element to master and understand. The other name for it is spirit and here's why. Star represents not only the other elements but the spiritual side as well. An example of this would be using cosmic energies. Basically, star represents magic which isn't physical like telepathy. It's kind of confusing so-"

"No, I get it. Thank you for explaining it, this element is much more of not thinking and doing scenario. So don't worry about understanding it. All you need to know is it represents every other power that the other 4 elements can't explain.

"You know how to put it into a definition?"

"Yea, it's easy to put it into words when you can do it" I replied not knowing what I just said before it was to late.

"Wait... You can actually do it!"

*Oh NO! What have I done!* I thought "Em... can we just go on the other question please?" I desperately asked.

"Oh, ok"

*That.. was close* I thought as Luigi answered my other question.

"So, if all the triangles go out of line, the triangle in the middle has to sort it out. The middle triangle represents what keeps all the others in place. Without it, things would get out of hand. The element in this triangle is Star. As it links to all the other elements and triangles but also keeps its self apart from the others. It only comes in if everything is not in balance." I saw that he was happier now, more content with life. So I asked the same question I asked before.

"It's quite late now, are you really do go home now?" Luigi's eyes widened in shock.

"...N-o.. not yet. I want to talk to you more, I-" His sentence was cut out by a yawn, telling me we had to get to bed.

"Come on, you're tired and it's late. It is time to get you home" I replied as I got something out of my pocket. This thing was a small yellow star, I threw it outside the cave. When the star hit the ground, it appeared larger and was floating above the ground. This was my method of transportation.

"W-where did that come from?"

"It came from my pocket, if you want to know, this is how I got here in the first place. I made this myself in secret, it ha-" I was cut short by Luigi yawning. "I'll.. tell you tomorrow. Your tired, I'm tired now.. it isn't the right time to be ranting on about this." I replied as I waited for Luigi to hop onto the star... but he didn't. "Come on! Hop on, I can't wait here all night!" He jumped back when I blasted out my frustration. When I noticed him back off from the noise, I was confused. *I didn't shout that loudly... did I?* " Oh, I didn't know you were scared of loud noises. I-I'll remember next time, sorry I am quite loud" I admitted.

Now.. when I look back at this moment, I always face palm myself for not noticing the connections from the very beginning. I should have known from this very moment WHY Luigi was considered, 'abnormal' by everyone, even his family considered him weird! When actually, WE were the ones who were ignorant and foolish. WE were the ones who couldn't accept people who were different, and WE were the ones who pushed them away, the ones who abused them AND made THEM feel that they were a waste of space! However, WHO is actually 'normal'? WHAT makes a person 'normal' or 'abnormal'? WHO made the rule of this duality from the very beginning?... So many questions that lead to a dead end.

"Oh, s-sorry" He was shaking after I said that.

*For grambi sake, 'sigh' I should be VERY careful about what I say in the future* I thought as Luigi tried his very hardest to clamber onto the star, which just resulted of him kicking his legs like a lunatic.

"Hahahaha come-come here" I continued to laugh as I stumbled to where the problem was playing out. "Up..sy daisy" I cried as I pushed Luigi up onto the bright star... "Luigi!"

"Whaaaat?"

"You're in the way! I also have to get up as well you know" Luigi looked down to find that he was lying flat with his arms straight out, taking all the space available.

"...Oops, sorry" He rolled to the left so there would be space for me to hop aboard. I jumped on.. causing the star to wobble slightly...

"Aaaaah! Please be more careful!" Luigi cried as he held onto dear life!

"Hahahaha, come here!" I helped him from his wobbly predicament. I turned around so I could see where I was going before we set off. "Hold on tight, I'm still not 100% perfect at this yet". Before Luigi could reply, I shifted my body forward and we zoomed into the night.

"Wooh, how fast does this go?" I looked at him and smiled.

"This thing can go... let us say quite fast but I shall not say as it would ruin someone's equation" I didn't want to say much more than that.

Soon enough we were floating above the town I was in before, however, I couldn't see a lot because none of the street lamps were on. "We'll soon fix that," I remarked out loud as I summoned some small fireballs and shot them at the candles, which make them light up in an instant. Now the place was awe-inspiring, it was bright but not too bright. It was a great contrast from where I came from... let's just say that EVERYTHING shined and glowed! "Ahhhh... that's better"

"H-How did you do that!?"

"Fire bending, you know that don't you?" I was surprised as he was talking about it before.

"Yes, I do know fire bending. My brother does it all the time, I just didn't know there were other moves you can do with it."

"Oh, your brother can do fire bending?" *That was a first, I haven't heard of Luigi talking about his brother before when I was 'taking' to him. So maybe he is opening up a bit, I'll keep that in mind* I added in my mind.

"Yep, it is strange that he doesn't use it a lot, he always uses a fire flower instead, even though he can use the abilities without it."

"Strange, maybe because he wants to hide it? I don't know, let's hang on to that thought. Anyway, where do you live?" I ask obviously because if I didn't know where he lived then how could I get there?

"It's just one mile away from Toad Town, just follow the path"

*So, the town is called Toad Town, I wonder if the inhabitants are called Toads as well?*

"In the town, are the citizens called Toad by any chance?"

"...Yep, all of them are"

"Wait, WHAT?! ALL of them... are called TOAD?!

"It does get confusing, that's why if I have to go to a specific Toad, you always refer them as the job they do. Except for the royal retainer. We just call him Toad, so you can say he is THE Toad."

"Ooooooookkk then. Hang on, we must be close to your house by now."

"It's just there" Luigi replied as he pointed to the small cottage, quite far away from Toad Town.

*Note to self, ask Luigi tomorrow why the house is so far away from town.*

As we came into the front garden of the small home, I had a strange tingling feeling that told me somethings from my world and his would never be the same again, just by me coming here. I brushed that tingling aside as I stopped the star and let Luigi hop off, and he did so with style. He then turned around and offered his hand to me, I grabbed it as I jumped off. Landing almost on my bottom. Thank goodness Luigi was there to hoist me back up again "Sorry, I am not good at landings yet"

"I guess we both have something to work on" I smiled at him as we went to the front door, Luigi opening it with his key and we walked inside (Luigi let me go first with the hand gesture)

Luigi turned on the lights and was blinded by them... well.. I was anyway. The hallway was small but welcoming, not a speck of dust to be found. On my right on the far wall was the staircase with a with a picture of a tree on a hill. On my left were the living room and the kitchen. Luigi walked in front of me and started getting the sofa ready. I knew that I would have to sleep on it tonight, so as he was doing that, I went looking around the living room in more detail. There was a log fire and a mantelpiece with some pictures on it. One was Luigi with a man in red (who was about 4 or 5 inches smaller than Luigi) holding each over in a sideways hug on the same hill in the picture before. *I'm guessing that is his brother* I thought. The picture next to it was Luigi, his brother and 2 girls dressed in gowns. *They have to be princesses*. Finally, the last picture was... blank? I just stared at it, not noticing that Luigi was looking at the blank picture frame as well.

"The frame is blank because I want it to hold my happiest and strongest memory. As this frame was owned by a member of my family who isn't here anymore, I thought that is what they would of wanted." I just looked at him and the frame in guilt. Guilt for him losing someone close to him and still thinking what they would want if they were still here, but also guilt that I don't have a connection like that to any of my family members... IF I could call them family. Of what I have seen, I don't even think they are even real. This feeling and guilt always give me sorrow but I keep it to my self. I suddenly feel Luigi's hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Obviously, I wasn't. However, now wasn't the time for chit-chat about these types of topics. So...I lied.

"Yea, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I looked back at the photo frame; which was back on the mantelpiece and just let the blue, sea green colours and swirls of wind and water flow out out the frame.

"I'm afraid you will have to sleep on the sofa tonight, we can get the spare bedroom cleared out and ready to use tomorrrow. Is that ok?" I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded. The sofa looked comfortable and welcoming, just like the rest of the house.

"Yea, it will be fine. Now, off to bed. I am knackered and you're knackered." I made my voice a bit softer as I was assuming that Luigi's brother was sleeping. Waking up a man is the WORST idea in the world! Except if they are screaming the house down because of nightmares.

"Something has just come to me. Where is ALL your stuff?" He was now speaking softer like I was.

"I was in a rush and had no time for packing anything except my small pouch and something I will tell you about tomorrow." I showed Luigi my pouch, it was shaped like a star and had a thick blue border around the edges. Which fitted the dress quite nicely may I add.

"So... you're telling me that you left your clothes, blankets, pyjamas, toothbrush, toothpaste and luxury items at home?"

"...Sadly yes. If I had the time to pack, I would of had them with me."

"We will have to go shopping tomorrow then, but now, we need to sleep. We have a spare toothbrush upstares you can use for tonight."

"ooooh, do I have to?" I hated brushing my teeth, I just wanted to go to bed and SLEEP!

"Yes, now come on!" He grabbed me by the wrist and led me upstaires to the bathroom.

Upstares was just as homely as it was downstairs. On the left, as we walked up, there was a Cuckoo clock on the left far wall. The furthest door down the corridor was probably the spare bedroom. Right next to it, there was a door with the sign with the words 'Luigi's room' all in green. Finally, the closest door to what I thought was the bathroom (which I was right) had the sign 'Mario's room' *That's probably the name of Luigi's brother, I'll try to remember that.* Luigi opened the door to the bathroom and we went inside. Finally, he let go of my hand after he closed the door and we got ready for bed.

"Are you going to be ok on your own?" Luigi asked as I was snuggling in 'bed'. I knew from this moment that he was a clingy person, normally I would hate people like that, but for some reason, not with Luigi.

"Yea, I'll be fine, goodnight"

"Goodnight" Luigi replied as he turned off the lights and walked upstares to bed.

*His pyjamas are so cute* I thought as I drifted off to sleep and thought of what tomorrow would bring... for all of us.

3:30 am

Mario's Pov

When I awoke from my slumber, I felt dreadful. My head was woozy, I was having hot and cold sweat episodes and I couldn't feel my ears, they felt as if they were dead. However, this was the least of my problems. As an attempt to wake myself up a bit, I tried to pinch myself... I didn't feel any pain. I pinched on both hands, the wrist and even slapped my cheek several times, but I still didn't feel any pain. The only time I did feel pain on the arm... it was painful. I pinched just a bit higher than my wrist. At first, no pain... until about 5 seconds later. The pain was 2 x more painful that it should of been and it even spread up the arm a little bit. My heart rate sped up as I lay in bed in shock of what was going on. Half of my body felt I was here, the other half felt as if I was someplace else. I turned to my right, where my nightstand was, but instead of being greeted by my oak wood table I was greeted by the same blue and yellow star pillow that saved me from my fall earlier on. At this very moment, I noticed that I was sliding off the bed as my feet were straight off the mattress. The only thing that was keeping me on the bed was the star pillow. *I must of had a violent dream* I thought to myself as I tried to remember the dream I may have had... I couldn't remember almost any of it, except for one part.

Dream

It was Luigi... he had angel wings and was fighting this monster which I couldn't describe. He was dodging the monsters attacks like an epic dodgeball player. One minute Luigi was in the air, the next, on the ground, running at a speed which was just a blur and glowing a white hew. The monster thought now was the perfect time to charge an attack to hit me with, it charged and fired... but it never hit. Luigi stood in front of me, at first I was afraid that he was sacrificing himself to save me. That was until I looked around me, I saw a green orb, this was blocking the monsters fire attack from his hands; From this point of view, had a tint of light green. As soon as the attack was over, Luigi put the shield down and ran toward the enemy. He slid under its legs and the creature's head followed. The sight of the monster bending its head and twisting its body was a sight that almost made me puke. It looked painful but by the size of the beast, it was the quickest way to turn around to its chosen target. At that moment, I knew this was true evil at work. I turned to look at my brother, he didn't even flinch at the monster basically mangling its bones out of shape and proportion. I looked on in amazement as he waited for a sign. I didn't know what he was waiting for, until the freak of nature emitted a howl of pain and went weak, as it used all its energy on the fire attack and twisted its body in an unnatural fashion. The noise was ear piercing, I had to cover up my ears before any more damage could be done to them! However, Luigi didn't show any sign of weakness, he just stood there.. taking it. At that very moment, Luigi made a butterfly with his hands. I saw him mutter something under his breath, I think it was "Butterfly Gail". He spun around and at the same time, put his hands back to back, so the knuckles were touching one another. Moved his hands in a way that looked like a flap of a bird, this motion summoned his angel wings. At that moment a gust of wind from the ground lifted my brother off the earth and into the sky above in a whirlwind motion. I knew from this moment that he was going to do a final finishing blow. I wasn't able to see anything except the same white glow from earlier on, that was until I saw a large green and pink butterfly was forming in front of him. It grew and grew until it was as large as our pipe house. I looked on in awe as Luigi shouted "Butterfly slice final", the butterfly came down at the monster at a speed which was unrecognisable as it (as the name of the move implied) sliced through the enemy with ease. It turned to the right while still moving and sliced though again, leaving a trail behind to show where it once was. It then flew upwards and sliced downwards, flew up again and finally turned around. The monster started to shake, as if it was going to explode, thinking I was going to be caught in the blast, I scooted backwards... until the butterfly swooped in once more and lodged its self into the monster and exploded. I covered my eyes with my arm for defence. However, I put it down once I knew what happened. There was; what I thought it was, confetti. Confetti everywhere the eye could see. Luigi had long since landed back onto solid ground but with all that confetti, I couldn't even see a few feet in front of me. At that very moment, the confetti floated into something Luigi was holding, or.. more like floating. I couldn't tell what it was from where I was located, except it was a shape of a heart. The object then went into Luigi's right hand. The only thing remaining of the monster was butterflies by the flower patch next to the house. When I saw this, I ran up to him to try to yank off his glove and have a look of what was under it. I was so close when my brother chanted something under his breath and... everything just went white.

End of dream

After remembering that dream, I was shocked, amazed and confused at the same time. The only thing that was going through my mind was why I dreamt that. It was nonsensical and strange, then I realized that all dreams were like that. I chuckled to myself as I swung my legs back over the mattress, moved the star pillow up to the backboard of the bed and stood up. Only walking a few steps until I wobbled and fell into my wardrobe. I picked myself up from the fall and turned my attention to my nightstand. Next to my clock and lamp, was a small glass bottle with a note attached to the cork. I sluggishly made my way to the oak furniture and examined the bottle.

The first thing that stuck out about the bottle was its size, it was tiny, only the size of my pinky finger. The shape of the glass bottom was a hexagon and the cylinder on top was quite thin. Wrapped around the side several times it was a thin piece of rope, which connected to the cork to make a handle. I turned my attention to the piece of paper connected to the cork, the paper was nothing special it was just lined paper ripped off from a notebook. I lifted the bottle up, ripped the note off and placed it down again. I unfolded the paper and read it:

Mario

When you wake up, drink this. It will hopefully make you feel better for tomorrow, I will be checking.

\- Luigi

Short, sweet and got to the point... *sigh* my brother knows me too well. I picked up the bottle once more, reluctant to drink the fluid inside. However, I knew if I didn't.. Luigi would be on my tail. So, I undid the cork and gulped it down... I was surprised that it tasted like blueberries and was no nasty aftertaste. After taking it, I felt much more awake. The wooziness in my head faded away, I had much more balance than before, the hot and cold sweats disappeared and the best part, I could feel pain again. I thought I would never think like that, until that moment in time. Then I remembered something, something I was going to do tomorrow but thinking that now is the time to find out. I turned around and walked to my bedroom door, slowly opening it so it wouldn't make any noise. I tip-toed out of my room and down into the living room.

The place was pitch black, everything was shrouded in shadows. I tried to find something to penetrate the darkness that settled in the house. That was when I found a candle, I grabbed it and then found an unused match in the candle holder. I picked it up and lit the candle. The shadows retreated when the candle emitted its glow around the area. I was grateful that the candle was there to use, even though I never saw it before. I had a set destination in mind as I walked between the darkness. I needed to know what had happened these couple of weeks, something was off and I needed to know what that was. After what felt like hours, I finally made it to the door. I slowly opened the old yacht board door, it creaked and groaned as it swung open. The place was even darker than it was in the living room, if that was possible. It was as if a veil of darkness was draped over the house, covering every nook and cranny there was. I held the candle tightly as I descended the stairs into the basement.

The basement was cold, damp and darker than a midnight berry. A midnight berry is a type of fruit, that was gifted to Princess Peach's mother and father a long time ago. I can't remember who gave them the seed but whoever they were, they could not be trusted. The berry of midnight (the other name of it) sends anyone who eats it into an internal nightmare and there isn't a cure for this disease yet. So because of this, the king and queen planted the seed in a very secret location in the castle. The princess was talking about it to me one day at the party she threw after I saved her from Bowser. Anyway, I looked around the dark room as my candle lit up my surroundings, the flame dancing to and throw. The first thing that caught my attention was the bookcase on the far wall, I forgot about it being an emergency exit to Seracerland. Without that exit... let's just say I wouldn't be here now. The second thing that caught my eye was some uneven ground on the right corner of the room. I didn't remember seeing that before, maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. Finally, the final thing before I carried on with my task was the large chest located on the left corner of the room, opposite to the uneven floor.

I remembered this chest.

What it contained was... something I didn't understand, something I thought needed to be forgotten... for me and my brothers' sake... well, that's what mum said anyway. I shook my head as I sluggishly walked to the table and chair on the other side of the bookcase. On the table, was exactly what I was looking for.

Luigi's Diary.

I hesitated as I opened the book and looked at the latest entry in the diary.

Dear Diary

Today has been the same as always... cleaning, cooking and washing. I read the next chapter of the book I've been looking at called "The Treasure Pit".

*I didn't know that my brother was interested in history* I thought to myself as I continued reading.

It's very interesting its about how the pirates hid their treasure a long time ago. The deadly traps found in the hole would kill anyone in a split second! The location of the pit is Oak Island in the real world.

My eyes widened at that, the real world. Was he still thinking about.. home? I... didn't know what to think as I just stared blankly at the page. *Was that the reason Luigi has been so distant?... No, It can't be, it has to be something else.* I turned a few pages back, until I found something out of place... black scribbles all around the edges of the entry. This wasn't my brother, he always has everything neat and tidy. Even his handwriting was neat, so whatever happened here... was serious. So, I mentally prepared myself for what I was going to uncover in Luigi's diary. However, no amount of courage would prepare me for what I actually read.

D-Dear Diary

His handwriting was wobbly and disfigured, telling me that something was wrong... very wrong.

T-Today... has been.. one of those days that, everything goes wrong. It wasn't her fault. It could never be her fault.

*Who is he talking about?* I thought as I continued

I-I though everything was splendid; our relationship was stronger than ever, her parents finally accepted me for who I was and we were together for so long t-that I thought.. that we would never, be separated... I-I guess I was wrong. This all started in the early afternoon. I was.. taking a stroll around whomps fortress to enjoy the summer breeze, until an Orange Toad came to me with a message from Daisy.

"Daisy!" I flinched. *Don't wake up, don't wake up* I repeated in my head... nothing. No sound of clambering out of bed and feet landing on the wood planked floor, no creaking from the old staircase, no light peaking underneath the crack of the door and no light pouring in when my brother caught me red handed... nothing, nothing, but silence. After checking that my brother wasn't awake from my accidental outburst. I went back to the entry.

"Daisy wanted me to meet her at Princess Peach's castle as she was staying there for a meeting. So without hesitation, I rushed past the Orange Toad and went straight to the castle.

When I got through the double doors, the first thing I saw was Daisy. She was standing the main hall of the castle on the sun symbol. Her face told me that she had news... just.. news. It made me feel very uncomfortable seeing Daisy like this, I knew it was important but I never knew how much it would impact me, until it was too late.

"Luigi, it's nice to see you," Daisy said as I walked to her. She was speaking formally, she never speaks like that unless something serious has come up. At this moment, I had a feeling that I wouldn't like what I would hear.

"Luigi, I don't know how to put this into words but ever since we became partners, I feel that we have drifted further apart. What I mean by that is, our relationship isn't as close as it was." I remained silent as she spoke.

"So, I think that... we, should go back to being best friends." I felt my heart miss a beat, I was going to lose the love of my life.

"Don't get me wrong! I don't regret any of it. I just think that this relationship is not going to work out."

I held my tears back, it hurt... it hurt a lot. I just stared into Daisy's blue eyes. She started hugging me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Thank you for understanding".

I just nodded as I stepped back, looked at Daisy one last time and walked out.

I ran. Ran home, tears rolling down my face and blocking my vision. I opened the door, ran up the stairs and locked myself in my room.

I still don't know that I did wrong.

Daisy, I'm sorry.

I stared wide-eyed at the diary. *Luigi...* I thought *You should have told me.* I flipped the diary closed. I looked at it one last time before I went back upstairs and into my warm bed.

I now knew what happened 3 weeks ago.


	11. Chapter 11

The Perfect Diamond

Chapter 11

Stara's Pov

Clanking and spluttering was what I herd when I stired from my slumber that moarning. Whistling, tapping sounds blasted my ears forcing me to rise and hunt down where the racket came from. My subspition was that the sause was from the kitchen; the nearest room to back garden. The noise in question piqued my curiosity, so I tolled the blanket to the side and sluggishly stood up with a wobble. The racket of sound I found out came from Luigi, who was creating breakfast from what was left in the cubard. Working away at the hob, then in a flash of light went to the deck where the kettle was located and poured himself a cup of tea. After satisfying my curiosity, I turned my attention to the clock on the marble mantelpiece, the bronze hands sharply pointed to 10:32am.

"Luigi?" He swung his head around in shock. "How long have you been up for?"

"Not long, why?" Luigi gazed out of the window while he spoke... the words "lye" came to mind.

"... You are awful at lying, come on tell me the truth." He looked guilty as he turned the hob ring dowm, making sure the food didn't burn.

"I-I've been up since 8" My eyes widened. The time we went to bed that night was at least 6 am, even the though of it made my eyes drup a little.

"You haven't had enough sleep, at least go an-" I yawned... loudly.

"I see you haven't either" Luigi spun around with the pan in his hand and setted it down on a wooded heatproof chopping board. "Have some of this, I had some. It should get rid of your sleepiness" He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. A small bottle, no bigger than my pinkie finger, with a cork and rope wrapped around it. The contents was red... well, it looked red.

"Ok, down the hatch," I said before trying to pull the cork off... trying.

"Do you need help?"

"No, no. I've got it" Instantly after saying that, the cork flew out with a bang and was galped down in one quick sucsession.

"...It tastes like oranges!"

"Yep, the taste of this potion tastes different for each person who drinks it. Mine is purple grapes." Emegietly after tasting the fruity flavour, the sleepiness left and I was filled with energy.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much, MUCH better, thank you!" Luigi then turned his attention to the pot in the middle of the table.

"Do you want some breakfast before we leave?" He kept asking questions, I knew he felt insecure.

"Wait... where's your brother, isn't he up yet?" I asked as Luigi went to get two bowls from the cupboard.

"He left a while ago." Luigi stopped before he reached the cupboard door and looked out the window. His voice quivered.

"Where is he, haven't you told him you wanted to spend time with him?" Luigi just shook his head.

"I wasn't able to, he asked so many questions at once and I got overwhelmed. He was in a rush, not only that but he wasn't listening to me at all... I'm not upset because he left or that he wasn't listening to me but because I wanted to show him his hoverboard for the Grand Prix. I made it all special too." I sighed, not knowing what to do until Luigi went to drink his tea. So I went to grabbed the bowls for him and placed them on the table. I thought that I should change the subject to lighten the mood a little bit.

"Can I ask, what are hoverboards?" I had no idea what 'hoverboards' were. Kind of a stupid question to ask, expressly at that moment, maybe I should have picked a better subject.

"...Hoverboards are... well, like your..."

"Oh, just call it Star. It hasn't got a name"

"Oh, ok. So yes, hoverboards are just like your star but it runs on air, you have to do tricks to suck the air up to the hoverboard can blow it out. You can compare it to a hair dryer to make it easier to visualize." Once again, curiosity took hold of me.

"C-can I see it? I really want to have a look." My feet shuffled as I swayed back and forth, pleading for Luigi to let me see it. He smiled.

"You can."

"Yay!"

"However, only if you eat your breakfast" I looked at him with an angry expression.

"You're acting as if you're my parent" I was just teasing him. You would have thought I would have been actually angry at him for acting like that... but I wasn't. I... never had someone care for me before... really care for me I mean. It felt amazing.

So without a fuss, I paced towards the table and sat down in the seat near the window. I looked at Luigi, waiting for him to come and sit down. However, he kept turning his head from the chair back to the counter. He was also messing around with his bottom lip.

"Oh, this is your seat! Luigi, you could have told me! *sigh* I'll get a seat for myself". I scanned the kitchen for a chair when suddenly I found one propped up against the far wall. So jogging towards it I grabbed the wooden chair (More like dragging it) and pushed it close the table. I wanted to be next to Luigi so I placed the chair between Luigi's seat and his brothers. After I sat down, I picked up a bowl which had orange and yellow polka dots inside while Luigi got a spoon for serving. He was much happier now after I moved seats, another sign I should of took notice of sooner. As I had the same 'problem', it should have been easy to identify. However, I guess not. By now, Luigi had already served me breakfast... porage. However, the porage wasn't sticky nor was the amount too much for me to handle. It was liquidly, but not undercooked. The porage only filled at max half the bowl and was still piping hot. I smiled as Luigi took his place at the table, handing me a spoon before he sat down.

"Luigi?" He turned around with a small mouth full of porage. "May I ask where your brother has gone? He must of left really early." Luigi nodded as he swallowed his mouthful. I took the spoon Luigi handed me and put the spoon in my mouth full of porage.

"Yes, he did. He was asking why you were on the sofa, then he asked me if I saw something weird last night. I tried to explain but another letter that the mail Koopa delivered, told Mario to go to the castle for a final meeting for the hoverboard Grand Prix, which is starting tomorrow."

I eyes widened as I looked to the floor. *How can I ask him now, he has much more things to worry about than...*

"Are you ok?" I swizzled my head back around to face him.

"Yea, I'm fine." I lied.

"Also, earlier you said you made your brother a hoverboard. So you can MAKE them!?" I was shocked when finally that sentence Luigi said sank in.

"I can. It is the only way you can get a hoverboard because you can't buy them nor the parts that make them."

"That must be a hassle, did you have to draw the blueprints as well?" I replied as I took another mouthful of porage.

Luigi shook his head, "No, people taking part are given blueprints in the mail and can be tweaked to suit the participant's needs. The only thing you can't change is the shape of the board." I was quite fascinated by the hoverboards, so I asked more questions about them.

Soon enough, me and Luigi finished our breakfast. Luigi insisted that he take the bowls to the sink and wash them. "Are you sure you don't want help?" I thought as I was staying at the house, the least I can do is help with the housework.

"No it's ok, you sit down while I clean the house." I blinked in shock.

*Did he just say HE will do ALL the housework, by himself!? A... man, doing housework!*

"Well... why you do the chores downstairs and I'll do upstairs, it would make the work much quicker to finish." As I said that, Luigi violently shook his head.

"I-I need to monitor the housework, I need to know it's done. I have to do it." At that moment, it clicked. I slowly paced towards him, trying to think what to say. However, my only solution was to put my arm around him.

"I didn't... know you had OCD." I tried to say in a more caring tone. "At least I can do for thanking you for letting me stay here is to help with the housework, it will make it easier to get the job done." I didn't want to force him to do anything he didn't want to do, I was a guest after all.

"A-are you sure? You don't have to." I immediately interrupted.

"No, I want to help." Luigi smiled back after I said that, while I mentaly prepared myself for the house cleaning session.

First, we started washing up the plates and cutlery from breakfast. Luigi did the washing while I dried and put away. I hated putting things away but it helped me to know where everything went. All the while, Luigi was watching me with hawk eyes. Telling me "That bowl goes in that cupboard" or "The pans go into the side cupboard above the washing machine." Just to name a few.

Wiping the decks, sink and table from water and grime was next. Luigi had to show me how to wipe the table properly though.

"You have to fold the cloth so it's flat before wiping a surface." He instructed, "And don't forget to use soap and water to get rid of the dirt off the surface as well... NO, no. It's STILL dripping wet! Ring it out first, you don't want a big puddle on the table. It isn't a swimming pool!."He went on and on, saying,

"You have to fold the cloth into 4 so more water can come out. You haven't done cleaning before I assume." He wasn't wrong, I NEVER cleaned I... never mind.

Dusting the mantelpiece from the wood fire the other night and the rims of the ceiling were also on the list. I cleaned the mantlepiece while Luigi did the rims by the ceiling. Accidentally getting dust on his face, causing him to sneeze violently. I laughed my head off.

Hoovering... my LEAST favourite of the cleaning chores we had to do, it was WAY too noisy for me to handle, so Luigi got me some cotton wool to put in my ears, making the work more bearable. He also put some in his ears as well, loud noises are not our thing.

Cleaning the bannisters and hovering the stairs was after the hovering, I insisted on doing the bannisters. I did NOT want to do the hovering. However, I still helped by passing the cord to him and making sure the wire didn't get tangled up.

After that was cleaning the landing upstairs, dusting to cuk coo clock and ornaments and hovering the stairs AGAIN! I never ended! Again I dusted the ornaments and the clock. At that time I was cleaning the clock, the little bird came out and tried to peck my nose off! So, in retaliation, I fought back with my duster. However, when I lifted the cloth. I found out that the bird LOVED the texture of the cloth and loved being cleaned! It stroked my check and bowed before going back into its penthouse.

"Your cuck coo bird is sentient!" I cried.

Luigi nodded once more, "Yea, My... family loved it so much that a soul inhabited the item. It can happen to any object that someone loves dearly. Normally, the soul is a one or two-dimensional soul. The soul can't "move" as we do, but in this world, magic is the backbone of everything making the object which has a soul move on their own." I was shocked, again I wanted to know where he got the information from, but I knew Luigi would say the same thing that he did before. So I left it.

Making sure the beds are clean was next on the agenda. However, Luigi still changed the beds. Even though he changed them yesterday... well, it looked like he did anyway.

"Didn't you just change them yesterday?" Luigi once again nodded.

"I... just want them to be clean" I knew it was for his brother. However, I still helped him by passing the bedding and pillow covers. I watched him change the beds and learned how to do it for myself.

After both beds were changed, Luigi lead me to the furthermost door in the corridor. The door was no different than any other door except that there was no owner sign on it.

"This is your room," Luigi said in a sombre tone as he opened the door with a key that he had on him the whole time.

*Very convenient* I thought as the door swung open.

The room was VERY dusty as if no one has opened the door for eons. There was a double oak bed in the centre, which had engravings of the element symbols around the base. The covers were a sea blue which gave off a calm atmosphere. Two walk-in wardrobes were located opposite the bed. The doors also make out of oak, showing who ever lived here LOVED oak furniture. There was an old oak nightstand(which matched the bed) with a small wine red and purple glass lamp, the colours swirled around each other, entwined. The colour of the room itself was a pleasant blue which matched the furniture quite nicely.

"Who's room was this?" Luigi turned around... something was wrong. " You, don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's ok... T- this room belonged to my parents. When they... passed on, me and my brother decided to lock the door and leave it exactly the way it was. You could say that we couldn't deal with their passing, which was true. And we still can't... well, I can't." Luigi was slouching, shaking a little while facing towards the bathroom door.

*I wished I had loving parents.* I shook my head out of that thought as I went up to Luigi and.. hugged him. He stood up straight in shock.

"Come on... let's sort out this room." I beleved comfort was the only way to help Luigi feel closure and now was the best time than ever to do so. Luigi just nodded as we got to cleaning.

While Luigi was cleaning the bed and dusting, my job was to get everything out of the 2 wardrobes so the stuff could be sorted out. The job was pretty easy because most of the stuff in the first wardrobe was packed in cardboard boxes. However, at the back of the wardrobe. There was a medium wooden square box which had the tree of life carved on the top.

"Luigi." He turned around, "Come and have a look at this." Luigi dropped the duster on the bed and came next to me. "Do you think it'll have something important in it?" No answer. I turned to face him, wide-eyed in shock as took the box and stared at it.

"W-where did you get this?" Luigi's hands were shaking so much that he almost dropped the box that he was trying to grip onto.

"I found it at the back of the wardrobe, why do you ask?"

"Mum told me that this particular box would only appear if it was time."

"It was time to..."

"I-I don't know, Mum never specified."

"Not very helpful. Anyway, are you going to open it?" Once again, Luigi nodded before he opened the box. Inside was 2 small star-shaped objects with a small item that had the earth symbol on it. The right one had a yellow and blue case. The other was green and red.

I knew what these were.

"Oh my GOODNESS?! May I have a look?!" A continuous smile formed as I danced on the spot.

"Please don't break any of them"

"Don't worry, I defiantly won't," I promised as I picked up the yellow and blue one. The case was stunning, there was a flap where you could open the case and a light blue strap with a clip on the top so you can hook it onto something. I assumed it would be the same for the other one. I stared in amazement as I opened the flap of the case and had a look at the pact that was inside. The pact was in shape of a star, the colour and the detail of it was mind-blowing. White with gold vines and roses for the embroidery fit the design so well.

"Wow... they don't make them like this anymore. Your mother had good taste." Luigi looked at me in confusion, he had no idea what was going on about. I laughed as I opened the star flap, protecting the important tec inside. Smaller embroidery of the same vines were located at the top and side of the pact. On the flap I lifted up, there was the five element symbols air, earth, water, fire and star. On the base, there were 2 buttons, one blue and one green located at the bottom and at the top of the buttons was a hole where you put the "item" in.

"I can't get over how amazing this looks! I only dreamed on seeing one of these! But now! Now I have one in MY HANDS! A dream come true..." Luigi was still looking at me in confusion. However, I ignored it as something caught my eye. In closer inspection, I found the old insignia on the bottom of the case! A yellow star with a white gem heart inside it.

"... I knew the designs were old, but THIS old! THIS is awesome!"

"Stara" I turned to face him, "Can you tell me what these objects are?" I was confused.

"You... haven't seen these before?" He shook his head.

"These, where I come from are called star pacts. However, these ones I have just figured out, are the originals. No one knows how the pacts were first made or where the concept came from. However, even though the pacts were not owned by anyone from where I came from. We stole the information when the pacts were in use and mass produced them."

"Mass produced them?"

"Yes... However, there was something we couldn't copy. The increase of power the pacts gave the wilder. We could copy the size, shape, the element signs and even the colour. However, we could not make the charms that went with them or the power it could give the user. So the item was still given to the people but it doesn't have the capabilities the originals have. Did you get all of that?" Luigi stared at me with his mouth wide open.

"... I-I think so." I smiled.

"Great! May I have another look in the box?"

"If you want to." His eyes showed that he was much more relaxed now as he passed the box to me. I peeked inside and saw the item I was looking for straight away.

"YES!" Luigi jumped back in shock by my outburst. "Oh, sorry. But look, It's an element charm! I can add it to my other one!" I jumped for joy at the discovery. "I thought because the pacts use the charms that one would be near them but I didn't think that one would be WITH the star pacts!" After calming down a bit, I looked at it more to find it was the earth element charm. I was a bit disappointed, however, later I would found out how much my life would appreciate it.

"Luigi, may I take it? I have a safe place we can put it." Luigi pondered for a second and finally nodded. "Alright then, come with me!" I grabbed his hand and we flew down the stairs into the living room. I suddenly let go of his hand and rushed up to my star pouch. "Here, have a look." I opened my pouch to show Luigi my charms. Inside was 5 different holes where element charms could go. Each hole was located on each branch of the star with each element symbol carved inside to show where to put it. "The earth charm goes here," I said as I put the charm on the bottom left. Opposite the earth charm was the air charm.

"I already had the air charm as my Nan gave it to me. But I need to collect the others. So, Luigi. Can you help me find all the charms?" I knew it was a big ask but it had to be done before... they get them.

"Are you sure?" Luigi said as he turned around. "Probably Mario can help you get them faster than-"

"No." Luigi turned around again to face me. "I don't want your brother, I want YOU, Luigi. Don't doubt yourself. Back where I first introduced myself in person, when you were talking to me all about elements and the triangular pendulum of personality. I was amazed that you knew all that. Not even where I came from, where they teach people that, don't even know HALF of what you know. That wasn't your brother nor anyone else. It was you. You explained it. You told me in YOUR own words, not anybody else's. It is also YOUR choice if you want to do something. You have to make your own choice in what you want to do. You have your own opinions and views making me believe you HAVE a right to have your views considered valid in a group. So, I will ask you again. The one who knows more about this than ANYONE around here. Will you help me find the element charms?" I saw tears roll down his cheeks, not of sadness, but tears of joy.

"Yes. Yes, I will" He declared. I couldn't of been any happier. I put the star pouch away and followed Luigi back upstairs to finish cleaning the bedroom.

"Luigi, I would put the star pacts somewhere safe while we clean the room out. We don't want them to be miss placed." Luigi nodded as he put the wooden box into the drawer of the nightstand. The second wardrobe was the same as the other wardrobe, except the clothes were for a man. However, at the back of this wardrobe, there was a piece of paper which in closer inspection, was, in fact, a letter addressed for Mario.

"Weege" Again Luigi turned around from the sorting out the clothing. One pile for chucking and the other for keeping. "I found a letter for Mario at the back of the wardrobe." Luigi's face became more sombre.

"I'll give it to him when he gets home" I passed him the letter, not noticing that I called his bother by his name when I haven't before.

"Stara, would you like this to wair while we go to town?" I turned around and when I did, my eyes widened. It was an emerald green dress, the style told me it was elven.

"Yes please!" I stood up and immediately I had a dizzy spell.

"Can't see, can't see" I chanted, "wait... I can see again."

"You have dizzy spells? I think you need a drink."

"We have to finish the room first though," I replied, not wanting to bother him about my problem.

"Don't worry, we can take a break if you need to."

"No, I'll be -WHOW where are you taking me?!" He grabbed my hand and whisked me to the kitchen and forced me to have a drink.

"This should make you feel better," Luigi said as he handed me the cup. I thanked him as I looked at the contents. Inside was orange squash!

"How do you know that I hate plain water?"

"... I-I just guessed" He was facing away from me, more interested in what was outside the window. I was so thirsty that I gulped the drink down in seconds.

"Come on, we have to finish tidying the room." Luigi's mouth widened as we climbed the stairs back and back into the spare bedroom.

After cleaning the wardrobe, the rest was easy to sort out. Luigi went back to sorting the clothes in the keep and charity pile while I did the dusting and whipping the surfaces; easy enough as there were only 3 flat surfaces in the room. Finally, after Luigi changed the bed, the room was finished. I looked at Luigi, his beaming smile couldn't get any bigger.

"*sigh* It's done! Now can I see your hoverboard?" I begged. Luigi looked at me.

" ... Come on then" I bounced in excitement as Luigi led me to the front door. "Hang on, I still have something I have to do!" He raced past me as he went upstairs, got the washing out of the washing basket, raced back down and put the washing into the washing machine. He then put the washing powder in the container of the machine and turned it on. "Now, we can go." I held my hands close to my chest as Luigi opened the door, gestured me to go first and locked the door behind us.

Once outside, Luigi went back in front of me and led me to the side of the house where there was a side door. The door was make out oak wood (of course, everything was made out of wood in that house) and had a heart-shaped window which looked like a gem because of all the different angles on it.

"What's in there?" I had to ask.

"You'll see." I crossed my arms and looked at Luigi as he opened the door with a key which had the same heart design as the window. Then... it clicked.

"The perfect diamond..." I whispered

"Pardon?" Horror came onto my face.

"Oh! N-nothing nothing at all." Luigi turned around and I sighed in relief.

*That was close. Right, note to self: Do NOT mention that at all. I forgot that no one knows what it is and I need to keep my mouth shut.*

"Stara!" I jumped backwards in shock. "I opened the door." I just stared at him for a moment.

"Oh, yes yes I get it now! It can take a while for something's to sink in." Luigi's eyes widened... and afterwards, smiled.

"That's ok. Well, shall we go inside" I just nodded as we went inside. We both didn't notice that the door closed magically behind us.

For a while, an endless sea of darkness surrounded us as we walked down a sort of corridor. Once I could see again... I was in shock. The room the door led us to was breathtaking. The room in question was circular with 6 flat edges on each side making it look like a hexagon and had stain glass windows on each side. Each glass window had a different person on it. The one I saw first was of a tall woman with a brown cloke which covered her face, the thing that was odd about it was there was a white hew surrounding the woman which wasn't located on most of the other windows. The one next to it on the right was of a man wearing the same clothes and having the same moustache as Luigi but was shorter and his overalls were red with a blue shirt. The one next to that one was of 2 princesses, one wour an orange dress surrounded by clouds pouring with rain. The other had a pink dress surrounded by flowers of all colours and sizes. Each window's background colour was blue, making them feel welcomed to whoever seen them. I slowly turned back to the door we entered from.

On top of the door was another glass window. This window was different from the others, it was a flag. Not any old flag but the old insignia from where I came from and the same insignia on the star pacts. The flag had a dark blue background with a star in the middle. However, this is what the new flag looks like, the thing that differed from this and the new one was what was in the middle of the star... a white heart shape, representing, The Perfect Diamond. The god of gods, the leader of perfection and power. It represented everything we stood for and everything we weren't.

I shook my head.

I went onto the next window, this one was almost identical to the picture of the man before but had a different moustache as had a red t-shirt and bright blue overalls. Finally, there was the final window, it was of Luigi. The picture took his appearance perfectly, the only thing that was different was the white hew surrounding him just like the woman's window next to his. Each stain glass window picture was in fragments/ sectioned off from one another, giving the pictures a unique style.

"Aren't you coming to see the hoverboard?"

"Oh, yep coming now!" I cried as I walked towards the far end of the room where a wooden workbench and something being covered up with a white sheet of fabric was located. Luigi shuffled his feet as he slowly walked to the white sheet and pulled it off in one quick succession. Underneath the cloth was 2 hoverboards; one was green the other was red, each one had silver as the main colour to give it a futuristic feel. The hoverboards were on a stand, probably to keep them clean.

*So, this is what hoverboards look like* I thought to my self, looking on in awe. Luigi then carefully lifted one of the hoverboards off the wooden stand and placed it on the table. The green and silver paint glowed in the light of an unknown source in the room.

"This is my hoverboard!" He exclaimed, "what do you think? Be honest." Like I would ever lie... ok maybe a couple of times.

"It's stunning! The glow of the metal is blinding thought!... Didn't you say earlier that the hoverboards run on air?"

"I did, yes"

"Ok, sooo what happens if they run out of air?" Luigi turned around to face the stain glass window of the man I couldn't identify.

"Well, if the board runs out of air. You have to run to a ramp in a race or go to high ground and do tricks so the fans can collect air." He pointed to the bottom of the board where two vents located displaying the fans.

"That has to be VERY inconvenient if you want to travel somewhere." I pondered of how Luigi got anywhere without some sort of transportation.

"I know, but there is nothing I can do about that." A large sigh came from him.

Suddenly... something came to me.

"I know!" I boomed as I reached into my pocket and grabbed something like a star full of yellow liquid. "I haven't been able to repay you for saving me last night. So, please accept this." I quickened my pace as Luigi stepped back 2 steps away from the hoverboard. When I reached the board I placed my hands on the left-hand side. My hands started to glow a yellow hew as a hole was created in the area. The hole was the exact size of the star.

I placed it inside.

The star clicked in and twisted around, once to the right, halfway around to the left as two slices of metal blocked the view at that point. Now the hoverboard was glowing the same yellow hew from my hands before and was floating about 2 to 3 inches off from the oak table.

"There, all done." I clapped in excitement.

Luigi looked away from me, shuffling his feet.

"What's wrong, don't you like it?" My head tilted to the side.

"NO...no. I love it... it's just that in the Grand Prix, a hoverboard that endlessly floats breaks the rules." I smiled causing Luigi to look at me.

"I thought of that," I said to him as I pointed to the place where the star was placed. "You can take out the star at any time! Not only that but the star can't be stolen out of the board because the owner is the only one who can take it out." A sight of relief replaced concern.

"Hang on... we forgot to go shopping! I ran out of milk this morning as well as sugar. We also need to get you some new clothes."

"Yea, your right... Come on then!" Luigi shook his head before lifting his hand up. The middle of his right hand started to glow a white hew again as the hoverboard went back into its stand, the white sheet draped over it and the stand and table lifted into the air and through Luigi's glass window. Leaving only a ripple effect on it to prove that the 2 objects exited.

Luigi's hand stopped glowing at this point, he turned around and walked to the door

"Come on, Let's go." I followed... mouth wide open.

Sometime later:

Luigi's Pov

Stara and I struggled to push the heavy wooden door of the general store, it was more suitable to be the door of a large castle it was so big. I held the sugar and milk we had scavenged for in a mesh produce bag I picked up before we left the house. We decided to turn left, up the intimidatingly steep hill that stretched before us. During our climb, Stara accidentally bashed into a tall Gentletoad, briefcase in one hand, clipboard in the other. His brown duffle coat flapped in the gentle wind.

"Oops. Sorry." The toad didn't reply as he passed by, vanishing into a sea of people.

I gently grabbed Stara by the shoulder and took her to one side by a building which had a beautiful stain glass window that loomed above us.

"Please watch where you're going," I begged feeling my cheeks were slightly flushed "I don't want you getting hurt."

"I was just distracted by how many people there were. I'll be more careful. Honest!" After a pinky promise, we continued our adventure through the heart of Toad Town. Where the people weren't as happy as they seemed.

"Now," I chirped. Looking into the shopping bag, which held great importance to my brother (sugar and milk), I almost dropped it onto my left foot, my normal clumsy self strikes again. "We can get you some clothes, maybe we shou-" I turned, noticing Stara wasn't behind me anymore! *I wondered why it went so quiet* I chuckled to myself as I clutched the bag, *I feel like I'm a babysitter.* Sigh,* now I know why Mario doesn't think I'm responsible.* As I started my search, I went down a small road to a round patch of grass with a fountain in the middle, which housed the elusive Star Statue.

 _A long while back, a rumour spread around the town and even beyond that this statue has a secret tied to it. Something has to do with unlocking something, I not quite sure. Anyway, during that time whenever I went anywhere, people stared me at me curiously. I finally understood why when a young girl approached me. She never spoke to me but she pointed to the plack on the bottom, which read "L is real 2401" It made sense then why everyone was staring at me so curiously. There was no one else with an L at the beginning of their name. I shook my head remembering as it has nothing to do with me._

 _"Have you heard about the legend?" I asked the girl who sat next to me on the edge of the fountain, she shook her head. "Well, a long time ago they say 2 heroes lived. One owned the Ultra Hammer, the other the Gem of Light."_

 _People started to gather around, listening to my story. "The man with the hammer was known through the land for defeating the dragon of power and the wizard of illusions. His courage was admired and worshipped throughout every kingdom" I think the audience knew that it was Bowser who was the dragon of power and Kameck was the wizard. What they probably got wrong was that the dragon was actually Bowser's father. Not a lot is known about him, all I knew was that he was worse than Bowser, ruling with an iron claw... literally. I found out later on when I searched in a book, that Bowser's fathers right claw had been replaced with a claw of iron because it was cut off by the Ultra Hammer. Resulting in him wanting revenge on the King of the Mushroom Kingdom and the wielder of the Ultra Hammer. "However, that was only one part of the story, the wielder of the Gem of Light was responsible for the defeat of the Dragon of Power. Her gem of light shone, vanquishing the darkness and the dragon of power in the process. But, the wizard survived, and raised the monster's child as his own." The child gazed in wonder as she turned to the statues plack once more. Her burning question filled my heart. "The story is linked to this statue because the L represents the woman's Gem of light, the numbers correlate to the date the woman defeated the dragon. So, in other words, the writing means:_

 _"Light is real 4 February 2001"_

 _Everyone was in shock. The child nodded her head as a thank you gesture and left, everyone else followed suit._

 _Leaving me alone. I smiled warmly and left too, walking home to make dinner._

The memory was a strong one, however, my mission wasn't over, so I pressed onward. Down a long, narrow road, into a small ally way where a trinket shop was located and back to the town square.

It wasn't long until I found her, standing out from the crowd like a polar bear in the Amazon. Staring at the old town clock, which stood tall against the buildings in the middle of town. The tower was old, made from a special type of brick which wasn't used in building in the modern era. As it's very expensive to produce and hard to lift.

"Isn't it amazing," she said, fixated on the structure, "How it's built is the most mysterious thing about it. Wasn't it half-built by the star spirits?" Everyone turned, staring at us with soulless, beady eyes, wanting to know more about our conversation. Stara finally looked away from the mesmerising clock tower and snapped back into reality. Her head turned to face me, mouth ajar.

"... let's get out of here" I whispered; slowly inching towards the only open gap in the crowd. Stara was behind me, one hand on my left overall strap, causing it to fall. The gap which I was originally going for was now blocked with more spectators... I panicked, shaking like a leaf on a windy day. Stara decided now was the time to break for it, darting down a new opening and I had no choice but to follow her. The hole she picked lead to a tiny back ally behind one of the shops. Our footsteps echoed throughout the alley like a shotgun bullet. Frightened eyes met my gaze when we finally got to the nearest exit.

"What did I do wrong?" Stara questioned, looking away towards a broken wooden door which was abandoned and left to rot.

"You shouldn't of said that. You really shouldn't of said that." I said to myself.

"...why? I don't-"

"The star spirits are very well known here." I interrupted, "They're respected as gods, the creators of this world. Putting their name in vain..." Stara's mouth started to curl into a small smile she was trying to hide, to no avail.

"GODS?!"

"Ssssshhhh! Not too loud!"

"S-sorry, but gods! No way! Also, I didn't use the name in vain. I was stating a fact. A FACT." The feeling of confusion filled my heart, she was the only person I knew that didn't praise them.

"Don't ask," Stara replied as if she read my mind, heading back to the town square.

"Stara!" I whispered loudly, "We can't go back that way." She turned and left quickly without hesitation.

"... I didn't mea-"

"It isn't your fault," Stara said suddenly not sounding like herself. The light poured into the tunnel and was now a strange silvery grey, this worried me as this change wasn't normal but as it's the Mushroom Kingdom I expect the unexpected.

"I-"

"You don't understand," Stara answered back devoid of all her personality, shadows surrounded her .. it was then I realised this wasn't her talking to me.

"...Who are you?"... no answer.

"I demand you, WHO are you?!" My voice cracked halfway through the sentence which echoed through the narrow brick walls.

"...You are very cleaver.." The voice sounded... ominous and dark, just like the greyish sunlight watching over the scene. Negative energy oozed from Stara's body like goo as it tried to wrap around my shadow with sharpened claws. However, my reflexes were as quick as lightning, leading me to jump back just in time.

"You're a fast one too, aren't you?"... I didn't answer. "However, you're not who I'm looking for." It said sharply, my face curled up as if I just tasted a lemon.

"Y-you still haven't a-answered my question!" I mentally cursed myself for sounding so weak and pathetic.

"Like, I said. You are not who I am looking for." We stood in silence for what felt like an age, until "Stara" spoke again.

"That was a subtle hint which meant "go on your way"... go on then, I'm giving you a chance to flee." Finally, I'd had enough, gritting my teeth, I stood in battle position.

"I am NOT leaving without my friend!" I bellowed.

"Oh, so THAT is what he calls you, "friend" oh how sweet." Suddenly, Stara fell onto her knees and clutched her head in pain.

"Get out of my head Onix you traitor!" Without hesitation, I rushed towards her but a force kept me at bay.

"Foolish child, did you honestly think you would escape just like that?"

"Of course not! I'm not THAT stupid!" Seeing this 'conversation' unfold made me feel freaked out, to say the least.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA well my child, haven't you forgotten about someone?" Stara turned around to face me, tears rolling down her face.

"Luigi, run! I'll be fine, just go!"

"I'm not leaving you!" I replied as I tried to get past the barrier, to no avail.

"Of course you wouldn't, I should of known you would say that."

"SHUT UP!" The force spread outwards, sending me straight into a wall and to the ground with force.

"NO, LUIGI! YOU BAS-"

"Now, now-now. Ladies don't use that type of language."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT **YOU** THINK!" As the two were more focused on their fight, I was able to get out of the rubble, back to the barrier, and brake it with my right hand. I stood behind them, waiting for my time to strike.

I used all my power at once in a jabbing motion, forcing the soul to leave Stara's body and turn into a being in front of us. The figure was tall with a yellow/orange cape, covering its body and face.

"How DARE you defy me!" It roared. "I WILL be back, you'll see. Yo-"

"Oh buzz off" Stara blasted a gold star in its direction in retaliation, however, it lodged into the wall, missing its target by about a quarter of an inch. Stara spun around, wiping her face with her sleeve before turning back to me.

"Thanks for the help... again. I honestly need to get training to defend myself without using magic." I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me, as I was a bit shook up from the encounter and couldn't think straight.

"It's ok, see? Nothing bad happened did it?" Stara tried to reassure me.

"Something bad could have happened and it could still" I countered forcefully, forgetting my manners in the heat of the moment.

"Your right," she said, lowering her eyes dejectedly. "You should have ran away when you could, who knows what will happen now that they know about you." Suddenly, Stara's knees buckled underneath her, thank goodness I was close by so I could catch her easily.

"Thanks. I'm a bit tired after that." I nodded as I carried Stara to the edge of the alleyway and put her down to rest against the brick wall.

She sighed heavily. "I guess I was wrong, very wrong indeed." I didn't know how to answer, so I just sat close to her. She sat still against the cold damp stone slabs, her head bowed. She was so silent for so long that I worried something had happened to her again.

"*sigh*" Something was wrong, I could tell just by how she sat.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I just need a break. You probably have many questions in your mind, don't you?" I slowly nodded. Stara sighed quietly "She shook her head, "...Not, yet." Stara sluggishly hoisted herself up, using the wall for support. She started walking away towards the opening... until I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're ready to go?" I asked her concerned. She nodded emotionlessly as we exited the alleyway and back into the public eye.

The town was busy, as usual, people weaving in and out of each other as if they couldn't wait to leave the shop. Kids flew down the street with their parents in tow, trying to keep up but ultimately failing.

"Wow... The towns sooo big!" Stara spun around almost bumping into someone coming past. I pulled her back towards me; we'd already had two collisions, I didn't want to cause another.

"You have to be careful Stara. Spaces not faces, remember that." She scrunched up her face playfully and nodded.

"Good. Right. First, we should get you some new tops. Come on!" I waved for her to follow me to the clothing shop.

As we walked on the pavement, the suns greyish sunlight still lingered overhead, making me feel uneasy, to say the least. Stara remained silent, staggering behind me, her energy isolated and cold. Not only that, but the people around us looked more agitated, even aggressive.

"Is there another way to get to the shop? I feel as if I'm being watched." I turned to face her, trying to think of another way to get there.

"Come on, this way" I grabbed her hand and hurried down another alleyway.

"Someone's following us!" She whispered urgently to me. I didn't stop after that, running up the small steps into the secluded part of town which was covered by broad oaks and sycamores. Where we ended up was nowhere near the clothes shop, I'd mistakenly gone the wrong way. I let go of Stara's hand, so I could look down the narrow walkway and noticed no one was there.

"I... must of imagined it." Stara stuttered.

I shook my head. "It wasn't just you, I felt it as well. The sunlight is strange, the way that people looked at us was odd. Something is obviously wrong."

"Oh, I thought that was normal," she said.

My mouth gaped open. "Sunlight is meant to be yellow, NOT grey! That isn't natural."

"No not that, the people."

I looked at her questioningly."What do you mean?" Now we were both confused.

"You know, actually, now you said that. The people weren't normal were the-"

"Let's go." I interrupted quickly grabbing her hand.

"Wha-" Stara exclaimed loudly in surprise.

"Shhhh! I hear something in the trees" I whispered. Our surroundings were quiet... too quiet for my liking.

"Run. Now." So far that day, we had ran about 6 to 7 times to get away from problems, some we knew but others, not so well. Were we a magnet for trouble? I knew I had bad luck but that was ridiculous. Running here, running there, it would drive anyone up the wall.

Finally, after what felt like an age, we slowed down to look at our new surroundings. The cool, blue water, the golden sand and the broad oaks still behind us.

We were at the border of Toad Town and Bubble Lake.

"Well, that couldn't have worked out better even if I planned it." I said. Realising we went the long route to the clothes shop.

"Parden?"

"Well, where we need to go is just around that corner. Come on!" Silence. "Are you-" I swizzled around to find Stara gone!

"Stara!"... Nothing. "Stara!" Still nothing.

"SQUAWK!" The sudden noise took me by surprise, however, I couldn't see anything that would make such a noise.

"SQUAWK!" There it was again, rattling the leaves on the trees, destroying the silence and stillness. I stood there unmoving. It took a while for me to understand that Stara could be in major trouble. When that realisation soaked into my mind, I started to run to the closest clearing, which so happened to be Star Ground. A name which was SO out of place and very uncreative, you would of thought that a 5-year-old named it. The only reason it was named that was because people believe that an asteroid or shooting star fell in the area a long time ago, leaving a star-shaped mark in the earth. For reasons unknown to me, I felt close to that place and if anything went wrong I went there first. So, I let my intuition guide me to Star Ground.

Stara's Pov

"SQUAWK!" the sound was deafening and was all I could hear as I stood a few feet away from the creature.

Its long beak and two legs made it look two times larger than it actually was, and that's saying something considering it was gigantic. It was about twelve double-decker buses stacked on top of one another. The glass shards covering its body twinkled ominously in the greyish sunlight. A large scar went through one of its eyes. I hoped this impaired its vision, as it would be the only advantage I would have against the beast.

"A shatter stalk." I heard from somewhere. Suddenly, something came out of my pocket from my emerald green dress. It was the star pact I picked up earlier before leaving the house.

"A shatter stalk," It said again, "Max HP is 233, the defence is 100. The glass reflects all magic attacks, smash the glass armour before attacking." My mouth dropped, apparently, the star pact had the ability to Tattle on any enemy. Tattling explains any weaknesses present.

*Very convenient* I thought as I got the pact out of its gorgeous pouch.

"SQUAWK!"

"Oh, I forgot about you," I replied to the beast. "Now then. What should I transform with?... I got it! You wait and see, great oh mighty beast of nature. I shall take you down where you stand! Once, I know how to transform that is." I looked at the pact for a button I could press, but the buttons at the bottom did nothing when I pressed them.

"Oh, come on! Isn't there ANY instructions with this thing?!" I grumbled in frustration, rattling the pact around like a rag doll. At that moment, a piece of glass flew into my direction, missing my head by mear inches.

I ran around the monster, trying to get away from the glass shards it was spewing at me. It felt like I was stuck in a washing machine... with a huge glass monster. The bird finally realised it had a beak and tried with all its might to skewer me with it.

"Come on, come on!" I cried, spluttering at the pact in panic. "Em, transform! Er, metamorphosis! Eh, Dual aura wave!" Then I realised how stupid my last comment was.

*Well that won't work as DUAL is in the title, it needs two people to work!* I thought as I continued my 'flawless' plan of running around and around in circles. This only depleted my stamina level though, eventually leading me to look for a place to hide. Finding a dark leafed bush on my far left, I dived behind it, gasping for air. Everything spun around me as all the running had made me dizzy.

"Oh, I don't know. I'll have to make up something!" I thought out loud.

"Right!" I jumped out of the bush and ran towards the creature at full speed, not caring for my safety. "Starward bound!" I bellowed courageously.

The world around me went pitched dark until I eventualy opened my eyes again to find myself floating in mid-air. Surrounding me were different sized water droplets in all different colours and shades with a bright light shining through them. It surrounded the area I was now suddenly in, creating a wondrous light. I tried to touch the droplets but they seemed to go straight through my hand.

"...Right then... what should I do now?" The Star pact opened itself up, and light poured out of the small hole at the bottom by the two coloured buttons. "I understand now, I need **the** charm. Now, where did I- aha! Got it!" I exclaimed grabbing the charm from my other pocket. I grabbed the pact and got my self in a strong upright position; just in case it would affect the outcome.

"Insert element charm!" The earth symbol started to glow after I slotted it in. "Let's go, element enhance!" A beam of light shot out of the charm, creating a huge red crystal high above me. Automatically, I stretched my right arm out. Causing a green crystal to fall and form a green sleeve on my dress, then the other arm had the same treatment. Each sleeve was identical on both sides except for a brown gismo strapped on my left arm. However, it was covered over with arm guards of the same colour having designs of vines and leaves engraved into the leather. My hair then suddenly changed to a vivid lime green. Much lighter than my dress and was tied up into a ponytail, the hairband was invisible except for a yellow butterfly resting on top. My green dress didnt change from being a lovely dark jade, but my socks became longer almost becoming tights but stopped at the top of my legs. Vines grew up them with some dark green fabric that looked like Ivy leaves. Finally, the shoes changed to the same colour as my dress and two-star crystals fell on the ends to add decoration. Unknowingly, I was suspended in the air. I was standing on a red crystal flower which had grown from the red crystal as I transformed. The strange light source lit up the flower, making it glow a faint red hew.

The transformation was complete.

At that moment, a problem arose. HOW was I going to get out of there?! I didn't see a exit from anywhere! I finaly got my answer when I saw my star in the distance. The star came closer and closer to where I was standing making me realise that I needed to act, fast. I hopped into the air, landing onto the star perfectly as it zoomed behind me. Suddenly, something that looked like a portal formed in a shape of a star in front of me. I flew into it, exiting into the grassy clearing I was in before. At that exact moment, for reasons I cant fathom, I dove from my star from a great height. Of course, I couldn't control my body until it was too late and I was plumiting towards the ground.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" I knew screaming wouldn't help but what else could I do? My Star didn't come back to me, so I decided to wait for fate. However, instead of being smooshed on the ground, it seemed I had landed perfectly.

"Oh. That went well." I chirped, lighting up again. *Now, all people need a cool catchphrase or pose,* I thought, so I spun around anticlockwise once and finished by making a butterfly with my hands.

"Now, you are going to be sorry for messing with me!"

"SQUAWK!" It replied, trying to skewer me with its sharp beak again.

"Hay! That isn't nice! Didn't your parents teach you anything called manners!" The overgrown bird decided to ignore me and did it again.

"Apparently not, right then you leave me with no choice!" I lifted a couple of sharp pebbles around the area and launched it at the creature... it missed.

"Wow...I REALLY need to improve my aim."

Suddenly the bird got its beak and started to pound me into the ground as if I was a nail.

"Ouch!" I cried, having half of your body in the ground isn't what I call fun. I tried to get out of the soil but it was no use. I was stuck."Great, this was the last thing I needed today." I said as the bird clambered towards me, to deliver the final blow.

However, nothing happened.

"Come on then, you coward!"

"Stara!" I turned my head around. "You can open your eyes now."

"Oh, yea I wondered why it was dark." I heard a laugh before opening them. What I saw... was interesting. The green bubble 'thing' was back, surrounding me and Luigi.

"Come on, I'll help you up." After Luigi lent me a hand, I was on my feet again, with a banging headache thanks to THAT bird.

"I really, REALLY **HATE** that bird!"

"I noticed." Outside the bubble, the bird was trying to smash through the barrier, of course failing badly. "He will never breakthrough." Luigi's voice sounded... off.

"Why is it a he, it could be a she," I replied, Luigi didn't answer. "This force field" he turned around instantly, "Am I doing this?" I asked Luigi "I don't feel any different."

Luigi looked sheepily at me, "Er, yes I think so." I wasn't convinced.

"Oh, hang on. You need this." I handed over his star pact.

"Go on then, open it." I encouraged, Luigi just shook his head in disagreement.

"Just, have a look at it." I replied to his silence. Another shake was all the reply I got.

"What's wrong? It doesn't hurt, honest" Still nothing. I was starting to get worried about him. He wasn't behaving like he normally did.

"Luigi, I-" He swung around and met my gaze.

"Sorry. Were you saying something?" My face scrunched up in confusion.

"What's wrong? Did you just space out or something?" Realising what he just did, Luigi turned away from me and met the monster face to face.

"I don't like it," he replied. What did he mean? It was as if he was talking nonsense. Of course, I didn't know what to say back, it was a very random thing to reply. Then it clicked, Luigi was suddenly one dimensional. Speaking one sentence at a time. This got me thinking more.

"It's the bird!" I cried, pointing at the monster. "The bird is sucking the energy out of all the living things near by. That's how it's gathering energy. That's why the sun has lost its colour!" My mind started to wander outside of the bubble shield, the trees and flowers were losing their leaves and petals. Starting to break under their own weight.

"Taking the life fro-" It finally hit me. "Taking the... souls from people." I grabbed Luigi and made him face me.

"Black soulless eyes..." My mind spun trying to figure out what could have made this happen. "Obviously it was the bird... but how? He was fine before when we were in town. Except for the townsfolk... that's a different story. But," I thought "The bubble maybe?" I looked at it in more detail, "I need to get rid of it." I stretched out my hand, a green spiky vine emerged from it, striking the bubble with all its might, however, it just went through it. "Ok... what next?..." I tried everything, putting my hands out; making a plane with noises for some reason, clapping, rubbing my hands together, shouting random things... nothing. Nothing happened.

"Great, what should I do now?" I thought once again out-loud, Luigi was acting strangely when I asked about the shield bubble. So, I jumped towards him, hoping for answers.

"Luigi?"

"Yes?" Finally a response.

"Can you put the force field down?"

"Ok" and so he did, it unfolded like a book until it was no more.

"You lied to me!" I cried, Luigi turned to face me, his eyes were their 'normal' blue hew again.

"Pardon?" He replied, sounding confused.

I just looked at him. " Don't act innocent wi-"

"SQUAWK!" A shadow rose over us.

"Oh, no... run!" I didn't have time to run so I jumped.

"...why haven't I-" I looked down, in shock. Did I jump THAT high! Oh, goodness I hate heights! "HELP!" My call sent my star flying, catching me before I fell to my death. "Phew... Thank you!"

"SQUAWK!" The noise echoed around the area, sending withered leaves flying.

"I'm getting SICK of you now!" I cried "Time to end you!"

"Not yet." My star pact spoke again. "You must destroy the bird's defence first. Then go for the finishing blow."

*That was very convenient* I thought. *Now, let's see what I can do.* First I thought it would be a sensible idea to keep this bird at bay with some vines. My star knew where to go and soon enough - no wait, never mind I forgot a HUGE detail. I forgot he had wings. He flew off into the distance instead of being a good little boy and going into my trap. How rubbish was that!

"Well, that didn't go as planned. Wait, where's Luigi?" While my back was turned, the shatter stalk came in and dove, towards me! I dodged just in time, the beak barely missing me by only a few inches. The stalk slammed into the ground, and flailed around in panic as it tried to escape the earths grasp which held its head in a tight grip.

"Hahaha! Taste of your **own** medicine, however this time, you won't be getting any help!" I swooped down, grabbing large boulders with my earth bending and lobbed it at my foe. Shards of glass scattered the ground after the impact, causing a bright glow to pour from the wound.

"Now it's time!" The star pact said, I smiled:

"Ok, then."

"Earth! Grant me your power!" Strong energy built inside me, making me feel invincible.

"The Tree Of Life shall spring forth with the power of rebirth!... Your rebirth." My body was lifted higher and higher as a strong oak tree grew under me, the branches arching high into the sky. I crossed my arms in front of me, making the roots unearth themselves. I used the Star pacts magical knowledge to finish the Shatter stalk off. I lifted my right arm up and finally down in a claw-like motion, striking the weak point of the Shatter stalk with the roots of the tree I could control. Then again but with my left hand that time, finally finishing with both of my arms raised before they came down in a criss cross pattern that slashed the Stalk's wound.

The Stalks body bagan to glow a bright yellow before imploding. Shards of glass that formed the Stalks armor fell like rain around the surrounding area. The trees and flowers all came back to life as their life force was stored in the shards and released upon its demise, returning all life to the state it was once in. As I returned to my normal form, the tree around me disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving only butterflies behind from the once foreboding monster.

"...Ow!" My right foot was in agony as if I was being poked with thousands of needles in one specific point. "Luigi!"... silence. *Oh, goodness where is he.* I thought.

"Stara!" Finally, Luigi replied. I limped towards where I thought the sound originated, thinking it came from the right, ... until I tripped over.

"Ouch!... I am NOT having a good day." I twirled my body around to see what I fell on. I was in complete shock.

"Luigi's star pact!" I immediately picked it up. "Where are you! How dare you drop a century-old artefact!"

"Up here!" Hanging by a shard of glass was Luigi, hanging upside down.

"How did ya get up there?"

"It was that bird. He threw a piece of glass at me, I tried to dodge it but I got caught and-"

"The glass hit the tree so hard you can't get it out, I can see that."

"Can you read my mind? How do you always know what I'm about to say?"

"I just do." He stopped struggling and stared at me.

"Hehehehe, You're funny. Come on, let's get you down." Using my star element abilities, I was able to destroy the glass shard and catch Luigi in a star trampoline... oh dear. It was MEANT to be a cloth. So, because of my poor decision, he had an appointment with Mr tree...again, knocking him out cold. My face scrunched.

"Ouch! That's gotta hurt." I had no choice but to put him under the tree and wait for him to wake up.

After he woke up from his trip to Lala land, he asked so many questions that I couldn't count... I didn't answer a single one. Finally, he gave up even though I could tell he was extremely frustrated with my silence.

"Fine," he sighed. "I guess we should continue our shopping." Getting clothes for me, hurray I LOVE clothes shopping!... sigh.

"Are you sure your feeling up to it after being knocked out?" I queeried, trying my best to get out of it.

"Yeah I'm fine." He still didn't look happy with me though, well at least he seemed physically fine so I went along with what he wanted to keep the peace. I guess it was my falt by keeping him in the dark. I knew what attacked us and who sent it but I STILL didn't say anything! However, I still didn't want to tell him, not yet anyway.

Everywhere we went, the shopkeepers knew Luigi personally. Making me question if he WAS a man, to begin with. Men willingly going SHOPPING?! As **IF**! After we got to the final shop, it was already dusk, the blue and orange cotton candy clouds calmed me down from a stressful day of bad luck and running away from monsters.

"Here we are" He exclaimed, pointing to an old looking building, "We can get you some shoes from here."

I sighed. "I know, shopping isn't your thing." Luigi tried to encourage me.

"No, it isn't that." Luigi tiled his head to one side. "These boots are KILLING my feet!" He laughed heartily.

"Come on then. The sooner we get in the sooner we can get you out of those boots." With that, I rushed inside without a second thought.

"Ah, good afternoon." The owner greeted. He wasn't like the other shopkeepers for one reason... he was a **human**.

"G-good afternoon," I replied back. The shop I was now standing in looked different from the others. This shop had large wooden pillars holding the building up instead of brick or metal. The pillars didn't just extend to the walls however, they were also on the celing. In between the wood was of coarse plaster, showing it was probably made by hand. Not only that but the ceiling was hanging lower than a modern building. Paintings and pictures hung from walls, walls!

*What a weird concept!* I thought to myself, *Hang on! Wasn't there also pictures hanging in Luigi's home too? Why? How? Well, it seems that it saves space in the room. Instead of having picture frames on a peice of furniture where their isn't any, they put them on walls! Humans are actualy very smart!*

Suddenly something caught my eye, the curtains were draped to each side that was held by pieces of dark blue ribbon.

*They also use cords to keep the windows open! It looks exquisit!*

"I see you are interested in this building." The man calmly stated as he walked towards me.

"I am indeed." I replied back "I've never seen anything like this before." The shopkeeper nodded before slowly plodding to one of the wooden pillars near the window that had numbers carved into it.

"This building," He began, touching the wooden numbers. "Was one of the only buildings that survived the star war over 600 years ago." I stood back shocked as the man changed his focus to the window itself. "You see, the people today even though they look young, are only the next generation after the star war."

"Meaning they are-"

"Over 200 years old! Indeed, there is a crystal hidden in the castle of the Mushroom Kingdom, keeping us from ageing." He turned back to me.

"So, may I ask why it was made?" His attitude changed to a sombre tone.

"It was after the queen died. Humans have a shorter life span than Toads, only living to 120 years old if they are lucky. While the Toads can live for centuries without any problems." I remained silent as the man continued. "So, when she passed on, the king decided to find the crystal of immortality and use it to keep his daughter alive."

"Princess Peach Toadstool." Luigi was sitting on one of the red floor cushions behind us the whole time! He stood up once we noticed him.

"You were listening to the whole conversation?"

"I didn't want to interrupt." He replied back, the man smiled.

"It's been a long time, friend. Is everything going well?"

"Things could be a little better," Luigi said truthfully. "How's business?"

"Busy as always, I've got 20 customers on the second floor, mostly parents getting shoes for the new term." He chuckled, "So, what do you need?"

"Well, we came to get some shoes for my friend. Those boots aren't very comfortable."

"They don't look very comfortable." He amitted, bending down to see them better. "Let me have a look at them while you look for some new shoes. Oh, and Luigi."

"Yes?"

"Do you want me to fix your soles for you? They look worn out again." Luigi nodded as he took off his shoes and handed them over to the man. "My goodness! They have holes in them! You should have come sooner."

"I didn't notice. I wondered why my feet kept getting wet."

"Hahaha, well I'll mend them. They should be ready soon, while I mend these, you can look for some shoes for your friend." The man went into his workshop behind an old wooden door. Once he left, we turned our attention to our mission: finding some shoes for me.

We started our search at the closest shelf by the door and worked from there. As we wandered past the floor cushions, I noticed that Luigi's socks were white and red striped instead of green.

"Why have you got red stripy socks on?" He looked down.

"I... don't actually know, I just like them." I thought they looked cute but I didn't tell him. Telling men there cute can be a death wish.

Suddenly, Luigi stopped me. "You were about to smack your head on the rack." I slowly tilted my head up.

"Oh, oops. Thanks." I stepped back a bit sheepily, and a bit more so I could see the rack properly. Each of these racks had at least 50 pairs of shoes sitting on them. Some had imprints of hearts, flowers, and even little green clovers. Others had a huge decorative piece like a flower (they loved using flowers apparently) from the same material. However, despite the diverse range of shoes, I couldn't find any I wanted. That was until I spotted a blue box in the far left corner of the room. The box had rope handles on each end and had a matching blue lid that was opened at the top very slightly. There were no labels on the box though, this only piqued my curiosity. Cautiously, I stepped towards the box as if there was a beast inside. I knelt down and without thinking, swept the box lid off with such force it travelled across the room and hit Luigi in the leg!

"Sorry!" I cried. In the back of my mind, I thought Luigi was behind me, turns out I was horribly wrong. I turned back to the box that was filled with different shoes of all shapes and sizes. I went in for a rummage. Sweeping each shoe side to side making it look like the sea. After a bit, I found a shoe that I loved the look of. The colour was a rustic Brown, made from leather no less with very strong soles and ridged grip. I couldn't describe the carvings, I had never seen such craftsmanship before. The shoelaces were designed to look like gold thread that shone in the light of the sun. Having a sense of warmth and comfort emanating off them.

"It looks like you found the shoe box," Luigi said, scarring the daylights out of me. I turned to face him. "Ther are all shoes that don't have a pair because the other one got damaged or was miss placed." Suddenly, an idea was planted in my mind and started to grow.

"Let's go and find it then!" I got up and scramped off without him. Climbing the old rickety stairs to the next floor.

I jogged upstairs, starting my search for the golden laced shoe. While I heading up, I met other people heading down, each one seemed to have been successful in their hunt. Smiling happily to themselves. It looked like they had just found gold and were now heading back to their humble homes, each one holding a valuable souvenir.

*Is that what buying shoes makes you feel like? Or is it the accomplishment of finding the shoes?* I thought to myself as I got to the last step of the stairs. I was determined to find a souvenir for myself just like the others before me. I was so fixated on my task, I wasn't taking note of my surroundings. The second floor wasn't as big as the first but it made up for that by being taller instead. It was made of the same material and also had the same curtains for the windows on the far wall. There were also ladders scattered everywhere to get to the top shelves. They also seemed to have wheels underneath them so you can move them to the exact place you wanted.

*But wouldn't it move when you're on it?* Another thought popped into my mind. However, once I inspected the ladders at bit closer, it seemed to have a little brass part sticking at the top. After I pushed it down, the ladder didn't move even a bit. *It has breaks?! We should have had them in the library!* I was getting distracted again, being more focused on the ladders with breaks than finding the shoes. So. I decided to get a move on. I entusiastically searched high a low for the missing shoe determined that I would find it. Up and down ladders, in and out of door frames. However, I wasn't able to find the other shoe. "I didn't think it would take this long." I thought out loud before seeing a small hole at the bottom of the wall behind one of the many shoe racks. I looked around, no one was there so I took the chance and dived in.

The hole was tiny and dusty, I was barely able to breathe. That, however, was overshadowed by the BIG problem:

It was So claustrophobic!

I started to freak out, would I ever see daylight again? Would I see Luigi again?

*No that's a ridiculous thought.* I shook my head, smaking it on the right side of the wall.

"Ouch!" I cried, as I hurried along the long small hall. I couldn't go back even if I wanted to so I had to press forward. Soon enough I saw a small light right in front of me. I quickened my pace and eventualy found an exit. I squeezed my way out of the hole, finding myself in another room. "Well, there you are then. It's apparently easier to crawl into that tunnel rather than finding a shoe!" I cried, the sound echoed through the room I was now in.

This room in question was huge! At least ten times bigger than the rest of the building, and it looked compleatly different! The look made you think you were in a trunk of a tree, with vines and leaves scattering the floor and walls. The ground seemed to be overgrown grass. Fully green, an emerald green with a hint of lime. All of this was hidden in a shoe shop! A shoe shop! One of the last places you would look for magical locations or items.

Not only did this room look amazing but it also had the same ladders from the rest of the building except for the vines scaling up them. This though didn't stop me climbing on them to find that cursed shoe! I then spotted that all the shoes scattered all over the carved wooden shelves were allocated into sections, sorted into colours and finally size (Small being at the bottom and large at the top). All of the shoes located in the room were out of the ordinary but because of them being allocated a hole, I was able to figure out where my shoe was. Finally figuring out that my shoe was in the yellow section on the 3rd shelf, I climbed that exact ladder to find the shoe wasn't there!

"WHY?! Lady Luck must HATE me!" I boomed, I was sick of going up and down ladders but again I had no choice but to do just that. Climbing up and down, up and down the ladders but I STILL didn't find the shoe!

"STILL?! STILL?!" I raved as I was flailing my arms around losing my balance on the ladder and diving headfirst into the ground. Before anyone saw me like that I hoisted myself up and scrubbed the mud off my face. Thank goodness no one came in.

"Well, trust my luck I would do that," I said out loud, almost about to give up on my search.

However, because I fell off the ladder, I was able to see a thing shining behind one of the far ladders. I moved towards the ladder. However, because of the vines, it was almost impossible to move it. Even when I was using my full strength! (Although, it wasn't very strong.) So I concluded to get out my secret weapon.

I got out my Star and threw it to the floor, letting it become larger just like last night. Once it completed its transformation, I called it and delved my hand into the middle and revealed my sword. It's made with crystals found in my home town AND believe it or not its stronger than diamond! Whatever a diamond is. I named it after the crystal: "The Sun-stone Sword." This weapon is infused with the power of the Star Element. This gives it an enormous power boost in battle or any other situation, making it perfect for the task. I raised my sword high and swung it fast, leaving only tatters of the former vines on the ground. I recalled the Star, placed the sword back inside and placed the tiny star back into my pocket for safekeeping.

Now it was time to see the shiny thing.

I knelt down to its level, the wooden shelf was cracked in this section. Leaving a split that spread across the shelf section like that vine. There I saw a wooden chest in the centre of the shelf which. I couldn't see any detail on the box but I did find the way to open it... from the side. That was the only odd thing about the chest. However, that didn't register because I finally found the shoe! Hidden nice and snug in a box.

*Hum, strange. Why is this the only shoe that is in a box?* I thought to myself as I lifted it out from its cosy bed. I placed the ladder back to its original place, and without warning the vines grew over the ladder again, covering not only the side but the whole thing in one go! "Ooookkkkk, I think I should be worried." This sudden growth didn't stop there, it kept growing and growing and growing. Engulfing the area with vegetation.

"Well, I think that is my cue to get out of here!" I dashed to the little cubby hole, crawling as fast as my body could handle. Soon enough I popped out again. I turned to see the hole being filled by the stringy vines. *That so not good* I thought, so I used one of the unused ladders on my right to try to stop the vines. Once the ladder was consumed, it just stopped.

I was released but for my heroic act, I only earned getting a sea of eyes watching my every move. "Er, ignore me." I darted towards the wooden stairs and while halfway down, I came in contact with Luigi! How we didn't fall down those oak stairs I will never know.

"Look at you." He cried, "Your all durty!" I looked down, discovering the mess for myself...

"Oh, so I am. Anyway, I found the shoe I was looking for!" He just stared at me.

"But was it worth it?" I only replied with a nod as we strolled back down to pay for our prizes.

"Have you found what you wanted?" The man asked while handing Luigi back his shoes and my boots, now with white fluffy insoles.

"Oh, I forgot you weren't wearing one of your shoes," I said, feeling guilty for forcing Luigi to chase after me.

"How much is it all together?" The man journeyed to a machine on the counter putting in inputs and coming out with a result:

"£20" Luigi paid as I strolled outside wearing my new shoes with pride. It took him time to leave, giving me time to watch the sunset over the hills. Once he joined me, we started to head home, bags in hand... well in Luigi's hands anyway.

Mario's Pov

The meeting was a Apserlute nightmare.

People showed up late; delaying the conference for a whole 30 minuits, for respect I'm not going to name who it was; Yoshi. It was Yoshi. Halfway through, one of the chairs disintegrated into golden sand; guess who's chair was that, it was mine and in the end, nothing was sorted for the race tomorrow. At least Bowser didn't arrive to have a one on one fight to the death with the table.

I tried to put that aside though as I walked home, hoping nothing else happened while I was away from the castle.

While my mind wondered, I managaged to look up into the setting sky. The blues and reds blended together like... like... how do you describe it? Blended colours? I was never actually good at English. In the heat of the moment, I went down the long road home so I could relax after the desaster that unfolded earlier. This particular road I went down followed the river that was direstly connected to the mote around Princess Peaches castle. which linked the castle mote to other parts of the kingdom. reaslted in the creation of an natural pool that brances out

Apparently, a few months back, the worker Toads used dynamite to kill the spiny cheap cheaps and the cheap chomps as they kept getting into the water systems. Including coming out of the water to byte peoples ankles off! Well, that's what Luigi told me. Thank goodness it didn't kill all the life swimming in the deep.

I took my time getting home, if anything did happen, I just wanted a break before it all started up again.

After a long 30 minute travel, I arrived back home. Although, it seemed that no one was home. My asumtion was also confermed when I tested the door handle.

*Strange, Luigi normaly doesn't leave the house* I thought to myself as I delved into my pocket to grab a key, *And anyway, where would he be at this time?* As I contunued to think on the situation I was faced with, I slotted the key into the lock and let myself into the house.

"Luigi!" I called out once I got in... the sound only echoed throughout the empty home. *I was right, he must of gone out,* I thought once more as I turned on the yellowish lights and strolled into the kitchen. Suddenly, I flinched. Something my eye. Something that caused me to stop dead in my tracks. The only thing that went through my mind when I got to the door frame was:

The grand chair in the corner had moved to the table.

I rushed towards it without thinking, checking each leg of the polished oak before moving onto the red felt and finally to the engravings on the headboard... nothing. Nothing was damaged. Instead, I realised that the wood shone like glass and the felt gleamed its original crimson colour.

Why was the chair at the table to begin with?

The realisation hit me, I darting up the stairs like a bullet, turning the corner and finding myself face to face with the far door wide open. I stopped. Preparing myself mentally before making a move. I inched towards the room in uncertainty of what I was going to feast my eyes upon. Would of it been changed? Could to room be in a state of no-repair. These thoughts infested my mind until I finally got inside:

The walls were covered in a darker blue paint; from my last time I saw it with yellow stars dotted all over it. On the floor, a huge rug spread out underneath the bed and the rest of the furniture, I recognised it from the same design as the pillow last night; a yellow star with the light blue border, it almost felt like I was having vivid flashbacks. The bed border was now singular but still had the unrecognisable symbols carved into the oak. Suddenly, I finally noticed something, something that made me cringe. Not a speck of dust could be seen anywhere in the room. Strange seeing as the door to the room was locked for so long. Also how my brother moved the bed to get another one in its place and it being the exact same colour, carving but only smaller. That's when confusion hit me if that's what confusion felt like. With this newfound curiosity, it leads me to the wooden nightstand, still housing the same memorable lamp. The Colours still swirling around the confined glass as if the paint was alive. I stepped back, trying not to think about it too much as I changed my focus on what was one the bed. The cover and the pillowcase were scattered with stars, moons and asteroids of all shapes and colours. Painting a picture of the real view of space. This was soon over-shadowed by a small thing hanging up on the left hand side wall by the door, a porcelain ship. I wandered over, this ship in question had a light blue base with golden pieces scattered on it, an impossible feat if it was tried to be created in real life. A gold star with a white heart in the middle was displayed for the sail, the border a royal blue hew. I turned back towards the newly transformed room, having mixed opinions on the new layout.

*Why didn't he tell me first?* I thought as I slowly exited the room to the hallway, shuffling downwards while holding onto the strongly built bannister.

Suddenly, a clicking sound echoed through the house as the front door creaked open, inviting a young girl; around her 20's, inside with my brother the following suit. Giggling and laughing was all I heard as they disappeared out of sight. I stumbled the rest of the way downstairs, meeting the two in the living room.

"Luigi?" He turned, shocked.

"I thought you would still be at the meeting for another hour."

"It finished early." I quickly replied, wanting to forget everything that went on in that room. My mind then wandered to the woman staring at the shopping bags on the sofa.

"Oh, I forgot. This is Stara." She walked towards me, clutching her hands in a regal position.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Mario" Her hand stretched out towards me, waiting for a handshake. I ignored her and walked to Luigi without saying a word.

"I need to talk to you." I whispered and without warning, I took off towards the kitchen.

"Er, Stara, why don't you try some of the clothes on while we talk."

"Oh, ok!" So with that, she bolted upstares with the mesh bag, Luigi came in with some milk and sugar. Putting them on the side before coming to talk to me.

"Why is father's chair out?" Before Luigi could answer my first question, I continued. "Why is the door to our parent's room open, why is that girl wearing mum's dress?!" My brother stood back, alarmed by my outburst.

"You-you didn't shake Stara's hand." He said timidly, holding the chair for support, I think. It looked as if he was about to fall over, from where I was looking at anyway.

"Don't change the subject, answer the questions."

Luigi turned to face the window, onlooking the garden. Still holding onto the chair as if it was his lifeline.

Silent.

"Luigi?"

"I knew I should of waited." He went to the corner cupboard by the washing machine. Gripping the tabletop.

"Luigi, that isn't answering anything." I started to get annoyed, my hand clenching into fists as Luigi the tap to let water pour into the pan. "Luigi, answer the questions!"

Stara's Pov

I heard everything. Shaking uncontrollably to a point where I barely able to stand. My heart pounded so much that it hurt my chest as if I was going to be attacked. I rushed to my bed, flinging myself under the covers. Waiting of the chaos to pass.

Luigi's Pov

I didn't know what to say, my mind raced, my chest hurt and I had to hold the deck for balance. *What did I do wrong?* I thought as Mario kept on going and going and going, his rambling turned into just sound after a while.

Nothing mattered.

Everything wonderful, overshadowed by darkness and pain. Time, meaningless when death is staring you in the face, something no one can avoid. Religion only a figure of beneath, having no importance in the present, only keeping you in the past. Money to corrupt even the purest of things, manifesting the thought of the meaning of life.

I started out that window, onlooking the iron white pagoda outside which was once mothers favourite set piece in the garden.

"Luigi?"

I finally turned the tap off, pouring some of the water down the sink and placed the pot on the cooker. I wobbled my way upstairs, holding the bannister as it was the only thing I could rely on at that moment. I turned the sharp corner created by the end of the bannister, seeing the door to Stara's room closed. I shakily raised my hand and knocked. The door swung open itself revealing a bump under the duvet. I tried to steady my nerves as I sat down on the bed, failing miserably.

"S-stara?" A head poked out of the cover and faced me, the face wet.

"Y-yea?" She scooted closer to me, still covering herself with the duvet. "Is it, over?" She slowly said, shaking so much that the bed shook with her. I nodded. Sighing, she hoisted herself up. I noticed Stara had changed to her turquoise blue star shirt and her black "leggins" if you could call them that, more like trouser leggings that weren't tight fitting. I tried to help her but still stumbling after the shock of my brother outburst. In the end, we had to help each over down the stairs and into the kitchen, closing the door behind us.

However, when we got there, Mario was nowhere to be seen. That's when fear once again took hold of me. Stara finally was able to walk and she volunteered to peel some potatoes while I went to look for my brother. Exactly when I said that, a thump was heard upstairs, causing me to run towards the noise. The noise came from the door to Stara's room, which was now open. We were just in that room and I swore that we closed the door. I wasn't prepared for what I saw next. My brother was inside, throwing everything he set his eyes on. The room was in a right state. The floor was covered in clothes, the 2 wardrobes doors were wide open and the bed was stripped from a duvet and pillow. Suddenly, my brother grabbed the glass swirling lamp, holing it above his head ready to hurl it to the ground. Thank goodness for my quick reflexes. Jumping over the bed and then swiftly grabbing it off my brother. I carefully placed it on the barren bed. Before Mario did any MORE damage. I gripped his arms, forcing them behind him and forced him to the ground. I was very glad he was much weaker in that state, making it easier to handle the situation.

"Mario!" I cried but my brother didn't see to respond. "Stop, please." Nothing, he tried to struggle out of my grasp but I had him, I would not let him free until he stopped his rampage. "That's enough!" Letting out my anger, I slapped him. At that moment, he stopped. Looking at me. Confused. "Look what you've done!" I let him up, making sure he saw the mess he created. He scanned the room, now bonded together only by chaos.

"I-I don't-"

"Luigi!" I herd Stara call loudly, "I finished the potatoes, what should I do now?"

"I'm coming now!" I called back, I turned my attention to Mario who almost looked shocked by the bomb which went off in the place. (The bomb being him).

"Please, clean this up." I tried to say calmly as I exited, closing the door behind me.

I helped Stara, peel and cook the carrots by showing her how to turn the oven on. As she tried herself, the room filled with gas enough to light the house in flames. After opening the window, I gestured her to try again, and again...and again. Finally, at 6.25pm, she did it. Putting the pans on the rings to cook and closed the window, she dancing around the kitchen as if she had won the Olympics.

We continued to work onwards, the sun fading behind the hills and succumbed to the moon. Stara was the first to slide to the light switch and the first to put the plugin the sink, ready for washing up. She grabbed herself an orange juice before sitting down at the table, gulping it down as if her life depended on it. switching the cooker off, I drained the excess water into the sink, ready for the vegetables to be served. While I was busy serving, I didn't notice Mario go through the back door and out of sight. Of course, Stara was too stuck into her orange juice to notice. So when I told her I was going to check on Mario, there was no sign of him. However, the room was completely clean. I checked the cupboards just in case he just shoved them in... but no, they were hung up and in colour formation.

My heart sank.

I rushed downstairs and into the kitchen.

"He's outside," Stara said, gulping down the last drop of her juice. I thought why she didn't tell me before I went upstairs but I didn't comment as I rushed outside. The only light left in the sky illuminates the garden with an orange glow as I searched for my brother. I turned behind me, Stara peaked her head out from the side of the window and once I noticed her, hid again like a jack-in-a-box.

I shook my head at her before heading up the garden, venturing under the iron pagoda which glowed in the limited sunlight. I slid the light glass door to the greenhouse open, where The Element Flower Bloomed. However, Mario wasn't there.

So I left the greenhouse behind.

I looked everywhere in the garden but I still couldn't find him. Until I heard...footsteps coming from the left side of the house. I stumbled to the area of the sound, finding the door to the room open. I panicked, dashing inside still not noticing the door automatically closing behind me.

Once more, darkness encased me, almost suffered the light, until the stain-glass windows appeared before me. My search was over, however, I didn't want my brother to see me so I hid behind the door. The only thing in front of me was darkness before peaking around the frame. Mario stared at the windows with curiosity and shock, I just hoped he didn't hear me. He stumbled to fathers stain-glass window and slumped down underneath it.

Silent.

He turned his head around to face the window and turned back. Justing sitting there, holding his legs to his chest. No sound, no movement.

Suddenly without warning, he stood up. I didn't wait to see anything else as I ran back into the kitchen door. Stara tilted her head like a curious cat trying to catch a bird in mid-flight.

"What's wrong?" I put my hand up while I tried to catch what little breath I had left.

"Mario, he found the room." Concerned filled eyes met my gazed once more that day but then turned into a mix of concern and confusion.

"Is, that bad?" Scrunching her right cheek while asking.

"I'm worried he'll break something or worse, find something he shou-"

BANG!

We both turned, finding Mario face first on the floor with some strange purple fluffy ball clinging onto his back.

"Get it off, get it off!" He flailed, bashing into the wall behind him. Behind me, Stara dropped the pan on the table, nealing down to the creature's level.

"Starnight! Come here, Starnight." The thing turned, revealing its face. Gold, thin whiskers with a Jet black nose which was almost covered by its fur. It scurried off Mario's back, swerved in and out of the chair legs and into her arms. Rubbing its face on her.

"How did you get here? I THOUGHT that Leo was with you, *Sigh* well at least your safe." The fluff ran up her arm and onto her shoulder, it's tail and 2 back legs on one side and the face on the other. Once again, rubbing its face on her neck.

"I have so many questions right now..." Mario said, reading my exact thought process.

"Bro, I don't think you'll get any answers anytime soon. Best to just sit down and eat." He just nodded and headed for his seat. I raised my hand up almost like a schoolboy, waiting for the chance to shine in the classroom (if the kitchen was a classroom.)

"Yes, mister Luigi?" She changed her voice to even sound like a teacher. Making me giggle slightly.

"May I ask, what is that fluffy creature on your shoulder?" I looked towards Mario, trying to get a better look at the thing... trying because Stara kept moving it, making it hard for him to focus on the purple fluff ball. So he kept shifting in his seat: moving closer, moving further away, tilting to the side everything you could think of. However, it just ended in the creature sticking its red tongue at him.

"Stop being rude, Starnight." So that's its name: Starnight.

"It's my pet! Isn't it cute?"... I didn't think Mario agreed by the way he scrunched up his face but she took no notice.

"The actual name of the species is " the urban night fox " isn't that fancy?"

"Not really," Mario replied with a mouth full of food. His mouth was a bottomless pit, eating anything that was in front of him in a blink of an eye.

"MARIO!"

"What?" He swallowed his mouthful of cauliflower.

"FIRST, you don't talk with your mouth full and secondly, it is RUDE to start eating without the guest who is meant to be eating with you!" Everyone stood aback from my outburst.

"I didn't know you were so well mannered. Are you the same Luigi I met earlier?!" She walked around me and stared into my eyes.

"Personal space, personal space, personal space." I repeated untill finally...

"Oh, yeah sorry." She backed up. Before she had the change to do that again or Mario taking another rude mouthful, I rushed to my seat. Stara soon joined me.

As she sat down, I saw my brother cringe but tried to hide it... it didn't exactly work as:

"Oh, this chair means a lot to you." She stood up, "We can swap if you would like?" As Mario faced me, I shook my head, trying to tell him that she IS a guest and would be RUDE to say otherwise. (Well, it wouldn't matter now as he already broke the many rules of the manners philosophy anyway.)

"No, it's ok. Just be VERY careful." I palmed my forehead. Trying to contain my urge to not _kick_ him under the table for such ill manners.

"I can't promise but I'll try." With the horror, inducing event over, we started; or in Mario case, continued to eat.

Throughout dinner, Mario kept glancing at Stara. Making me ultimately, uncomfortable. Apart from that, the rest was quickly forgotten. Being Overshadowed by me and Stara washed up the pots, plates and cutlery. Creating a mess while doing it.

"Luigi?" Mario whispered which was almost drowned out by Stara splashing and making noises. "Can I talk to you?" I just nodded as he lead me outside.

"It's about my friend, isn't it?" He didn't answer. I waited but still, I got nothing. "Please just tell me." Again silence.

"Is it because she's "Weird"?" Using quotations at the end of the line. My brother looked away. "So, your saying I'm weird."

"What?! No!" He shot back, trying to defend his corner. "Where did you get that idea from?" His eyes read confusion.

"She's been my friend as long as I can remember, any insult is not just targeted her but also at me." I think my reason finally hit him.

"Oh" was all he said.

"Now, I want to ask you a question." Mario didn't answer. "Are you ready for tomorrow?" My voice sounded stern.

"Not yet, I still haven't got any gear and-" I butted in.

"What do you mean you don't have the gear?" I crossed my arms, stamping my foot. "You had months to get some and you still don't have it?" He stepped back, not answering my question. "Thank goodness I got it for you." Finally, Mario lifted his head up but still silent. "Are you ok, bro?" He just nodded and walked into the house.

Did I do something wrong?

After a couple of minutes, I walked back in. Seeing Stara eating a orange ice lolly.

"Eh, hi? I, just got thirsty after cleaning the pots and I found a lolly, so I... took one, maybe I should have asked first." I shook my head.

"I forgot I even made them." We both chuckled as the purply blue creature jumped off her shoulder and scurried upstares. Everything was fine... until an earthquake from above us shook the house. I bolted upstares, finding Mario acknowledging the work we did that morning on the carpet and the creature standing proudly on his back as if they were having a wrestling match.

"STARNIGHT!" Stara boomed, not in a nasty tone but more of a calling. The thing ran up to her, its yellow dust particles on the body glowing like light bulbs as it turned into a plush upon her shoulder. It seemed 'Starnight' was fine... this, however, wasn't the same for my brother. Red thrash marks all over his face, his nose was also the same colour as his hat. Whatever happened, I knew the "fox" was victorious.

"Do you have a grudge on Mario?" The thing nodded, sending its ears flying back and forth. "Naughty, naughty Starnight. *Sigh*, I apologise."

"It isn't your fault, also I wasn't the one who was attacked while travelling to the shower." She started chuckling. I knew this by the faint sound of water running and steam exiting the bottom of the bathroom door.

"True, true. Well, I better put this naughty night fox to bed while you get your brother to bed."

"I guess we both have a pet to look after." We laughed as we put our babies to bed, finally able to spend some time together. (After I turned the shower off.) We both grabbed a lolly from the freezer and sat down on the less so comfy sofa. I decided to press the button on the Tv remote automatically turning the tv program onto the news.

"Hello, I'm Toad. Coming up tonight:

Fighting and missing peop- oh wait it was Yoshi at the hoverboard brand Prix's final meeting.

How to grow a pansy garden with our special guest: Princess Peach.

How one of our cameras broke on set by Lakitue throwing a CUP OF COFFIE AT IT!

"Sorrrryyy"

However, now our top story. A huge crater was seen earlier this morning. On the scene, white crystals formed throughout the day, circling the once huge creator."

We both looked at each other, worried.

"Here's our reporter Toad on the scene with more info, Toad?"

"Yes, thank you Toad. Now-" The rest was all babble.

"Oh, no," Stara said muffled, covering up her face with her long brown hair. "What have I done..." I looked at her.

"You haven't done anything, I should have tried something else-" I was cut short.

"No, no. I don't think anything else would of worked." Shame painted her face while I tried to comprehend what was going on.

"Well, at least your safe." I tried to comfort her. "It could of been much worse!" Stara just nodded, staring at the screen.

Some time had passed, the program now was displaying "how to grow a pansy garden" before Stara spoke again.

"Is Bowser going to the Hoverboard race tomorrow?" I stared, how did she know who Bowser was? Not only that but I tried to think where the question came from.

"Probably, he never misses a competition. Also, he never misses a chance to show how powerful he is to his people."

"Self-centred much?" I nodded. Stara didn't face me while she spoke, only looking to the floor as if they had a deep connection.

"Are you going?"

"You can enter if you want to." She shook her head.

"I've got too many things I have to deal with, including the search for the element charms." She finally turned to me, "I need the time to find them." Then she turned her body round to have a better position to talk. "How long is the Grand Prix anyway?"

"The Grand Prix normally lasts for around 3 months. Each week, the race is set in different locations. Finally ending with 2 special tracks to decide the winner." Her eyes widened.

"I haven't got time for that!" Stara joked as I turned the tv off. "I would love to join but the circumstances aren't the best right now." I just nodded, putting our ice lollies sticks in the sink, (of course washing them and putting them away.) grabbing a small trinket before heading upstares. Stara bounced into her room, getting her pyjamas on as speedy as a cheater.

"Goodnight, Luigi." I turned. Holding the corner of the stairs.

"Stara, haven't you forgotten something?" I whispered while pointed to the bathroom door.

"*sigh* fine" she stomped in, clutching her toothbrush. Rubbing with no care and fairness. Once Stara "finished" she tried to storm out, however, I was in the way.

"It is meant to be for two minutes, not 30 seconds." Once again an angry sigh before returning. Once again I timed it and again she tried again. "Nope, you haven't washed your mouth out."

"Nothing is good for you, is it "Mr perfect"?" I laughed as she swilled her mouth out, properly. "Now may I leave?"

"Of course, your majesty." I bowed while stepping aside to let her lady in waiting out. I heard another sigh but instead of anger, it was playful. I thought I won her over.

"Goodnight, my king." she whispered before closing her bedroom door. While the two were sleeping, I left to do my nightly chores; after I brushed my teeth. The trinket I picked up was given to the archaeologist who lived in the green toad house, located near the castle. This item was a coin, something called a Luneris coin that is meant to grant anyone a wish if they pray at a fountain in any of the main kingdoms. I had no use for such a thing, so I decided to give it to the man. Maybe he would find a good use for it. My chores that night were interrupted however when a girl was roaming the empty streets. I didn't know what to do until I heard her speak.

"It's the wanderer!" Susie, from house 35! The only girl in the house, her other 2 siblings were boys. She was only 5, poor thing. Why was she out at this time? Then another question popped into my mind: Is that what called me? The wonderer? The only thing that went through my mind was that song. "Excuse me, sir!" I turned, suddenly realising what was going on, I ran. The girl followed suit at full speed but I knew I couldn't let her see me so I weaved in and out of the buildings until she finally lost me. "Oh, I lost him." She shook her head. "I should get back home before my family knows I'm gone." I made sure Susie got back home safely before I continued my work.

It was almost 3am before I went to bed, putting my pyjamas on and turning off the lamp. I snuggled deeper into my duvet and the blankets, soon succumbing to sleep.

It was the nicest dream I have had for a long time.

Mario's Pov

A once calm, sweet breeze swept the area me and the rest of the students were working. A blocked off piece of land where doors from each class in ks3 could be the gateway to peace. Trees dotted around with a hedge to stop us running off down the road (except, for the huge holes in it, defeating the purpose they had intended.) Each class was; of course, divided into age and when you started school, this, however, didn't stop the school combining 2 classes of different ages. Strangely enough, it was the class my brother was in. It was already strange that a year 6 class was put with year 3's, never mind it being Luigi's class. Already my mind was boggled, this didn't help as the class being taught in the afternoon was art (one of my weakest subjects).

"Try not to push down too hard on the paper, it'll make the shading shinny and almost impossible to rub out." My brother was a creator, anything to do with making something. He has the know-how to make even the wildest imagination, reality. Making me wonder if we were even related sometimes. Now that I think about it, we were the compleat opposite in school. I was great at sport but my brother was unable to pass a baton without making out with the ground. He was brilliant in English, maths and in most academic activities and couldn't even write a word without it looking like a bowl of spaghetti. *Sigh* life can be so unfair sometimes.

Suddenly without warning, the wind picked up. Causing my "drawing" to be lifted away out of my hand and into the vast blue. The paper swished and turned back and forth, dancing in time with the hectic wind. "Oh, well at least you can make another one. Right, Mario?" I didn't comment, only fixated on the flying carpet tumbling around in the air. The paper kept going until eventually bashing into something unrecognisable, the object looked like a huge, tall stone right in the middle of the entrance to the school. The paper soon flew away into a bunch of pine trees in the park, making me gutted. All my hard work, squandered. However, everyone was more fixated on the stone, well it looked like one:

Until it moved.

The... thing swung its arm at the paper on the tree, crushing it under the brand weight. So much for saving it.

"Everyone!" My brother's teacher called through a belly filled rawr, "Head inside, quickly!" Without hesitation, the kids of all ages bolted inside. I never thought I would see my school bully; I believe her name was Ciel, look so horrified in my life. I couldn't help but laugh. Moments later, I snapped out that thought process, realising I was still outside with that creature. Including my brother.

"Luigi, what are you doing?! Get inside!" I bent down to his level so he could hear me through the noise of the wind and the creature now throwing boulders everywhere. Luigi hid behind me, holding his hands over his ears and watching over my shoulder.

"We need mum..." He spoke softly, almost inaudible.

"Parden!" I had to shout.

"We. need. mum!"

"I don't think mum can help us!" I replied, clasping his shirt. By now the teachers were inside, locking the doors and left us. Not giving a hoot if we died out there or not. Showing their true intentions.

"You don't understand! Mum is the only one who knows how to stop that Ionic Breaker!" I looked at him. Confused, an 'Ionic Breaker'?

"Is that what the monster's called?!" He nodded.

"One of the strongest monsters used in the enemy's army. They normally use it for breaking down gates and buildings... I understand now!"

"What?!"

"It's here to kill us!" I sluggishly turned towards him.

"Kill us?!"

"Yea, that's why we need mum!" I somewhat understood, apart from how mum could help get rid of such a large chunk of stone. However, that wasn't the main there question I needed answered.

"Why?"

"They want to extinct the human race. Whats a better way than to destroy a future generation in one foul swoop?!"

"...Who's They?"

"I honestly don't know myself. Mum never went into any more detail than that." I tried to piece it together in my head.

"So, you said mum knows how to stop it. If mum is the only one who can stop it. Then how do you know that?!" The wind picked up, almost making it impossible to say if we were going to fly off into the sky like my drawing or not.

"I...I was told, by mum. I can't say anymore." Suddenly, a faint voice interrupted our confusing conversation.

"Luigi!" We spun around, spotting a woman in a blue dress come towards us. For some reason, I recognised her from somewhere but my mind was more worried about my brothers' safety than face recognition. Her blue dress blew in the wind, she had to be thankfull that she chose to wair black shorts. She also had a brown leather strap circling around her, holding something on her back.

"Luigi, oh thank goodness I found you. Your mum sent me." He beamed from ear to ear, almost in a way saying:

"I knew mum would help."

"Your Mum's given you permission to stop that thing in any way possible." He turned, looking at the thing, then back towards the mysterious woman.

"I don't know how to. Mum hasn't taught me how to use... "it" yet." She just nodded, holding onto his hand.

"I do, I shall be your teacher!" My brother looked more reinsured but still scared. Well, anyone would be if they are going up against a creature THAT size at age 7!

"Thank you for the offer but my brother is too young to go and fight a monster at that calibre."

"I'm sorry Mr Mario but your brother has the only method to stop this Ionic Breaker. I assure you he'll be fine., its best advised to go back inside to wait for his return." First, I wasn't going to leave my brother all alone while fighting that creature with a stranger and second, I couldn't go back inside. The doors were locked so I wouldn't be able to get in anyway. I gritted my teeth.

"I don't know who you are but I'm not allowing my brother anywhere near that thing!" While I was quite occupied with the woman, the monster decided now was the time to attack, throwing a boulder the size of a fully grown pine tree straight at us. I... noticed too late, covering my eyes ready for the impact.

However, it never came.

I slowly re-opened my eyes, being greeted with my brother holding up the bolder with only one hand! Words couldn't describe my astonishment.

"This is cool!" My herd my brother shout before hurling the bolder back at it with the same hand, toppling the monster over on impact. However, it switly got back up and retreated to the playground. We had no choice but to followed suit, soon hiding behind a huge overgrown bush. Full of nettles and what we call 'feather dusters'.

"Bro, how did you do that?!" Luigi looked away, almost like he was... ashamed.

"It's ok, I thought what you did back there was awesome! How you did that?!" No answer.

"He isn't meant to tell anyone about it because it can get people into serious trouble. The only people who do know about this is your perents and me." I nodded in understanding, if they did find out about my brother's powers, they would put him through experiments and goodness knows what.

"They never told you because they were worried that you would become a target, not just your brother."

"I'm sticking with him, no matter what. Right, bro?" When I turned to where I thought he was, I had one nasty shock.

"Bro?!" When we finally realised my brother had wondered off, we peaked out of the bushes hoping he was just playing around we were. Exept, he wasn't. Instead, an image of the creature throwing borders, stones and even trees at our small group played before us. However, they weren't penetrating a light green coloured bubble around a large area, where we set our bush shield. I rushed towards him, not thinking of the cqanciquences. If he wasn't focusing, his power would weaken, coming to that conclusion as his right glove was off and that a white light emanated from it.

At that moment, he turned not causing the force field to even flicker with failure.

"Luigi, are you ok?" He nodded silently, strolling back to us. That's when I had the best look at his hand. The best I could describe it was... a white heart was carved into his hand, almost like a tattoo. However, it stuck out and glowed a carming white hew.

*So that's where the light was coming from* I thought as the monster moved in, closer and closer to the school building. My brother thought it was now time to put down the green shield. It folded outwards, until it reached the ground, reminding me how Luigi used to open capsules from those toy vending machines.

"Miss?" He softly spoke, finally breaking the silence. The woman stepped forward, making me realise she was right behind me the whole time freaked me out a little; holding some sort of shield. On closer inspection, it had a gold star in the centre with a royal blue covering the rest visible.

"Yes?"

"Can you look after my brother for me while I deal with this Ionic breaker?"

"Of course, he'll safe with me." With that promise; and me trying to wrap my head around this amazing spectacle, Luigi started to walk off until I grabbed onto his hand. Feeling the indent of the heart cut into my hand.

"Are you sure you can do this?" I asked, my grip getting tighter every few seconds.

"I know what I'm doing." Was all he said before he loosened my strong grip in one small shake! My brother didn't waste any time as he made his way through the playground, ready to face this "Ionic Breaker."

Suddenly, the monster noticed him. Swirling around in a 90-degree angle that would snap anybody's back and with that momentum, it slammed his fist to the ground. Dust and rock flew everywhere, one even scraped my forehead. Leaving a small gash. However, I didn't care about that.

"LUIGI!" I screamed, trying to force my way to where my brother used to be standing. However, a large barrier stopped me, stretching miles each way.

"He'll be fine, your brother is one tough cookie." And she was right. Out of the blue, something flew over us and I sware I felt something rustle my hear as it went past. Taking its perch on top the school roof, (Right above the principles office).

It was, of course, my brother.

With wings, angel wings the size of buses!

"Do you know the actual size of his wings?" I shook my head, "Around 5 meters in length!" I collapsed to the floor.

"Are you alright?" I looked at her with blurry eyes.

"Remind me to NEVER get on my brother's bad side."

"Hahahaha, you've seen nothing yet. look!" I changed my focus to Luigi, who was ready to attack. He gracefully swooped down, dodging each stone launched at him like a pro and his left-wing slashed through its legs like a hot knife through butter! He made it look effortless, a special that is unable to be described! This made the creature aserlutly useless. Flailing its arms around as it looked to its now destroyed legs, it was actually quite sad to see but it did try to kill a WHOLE school of kids! So, my sadness quickly retreated back to where ever it came from

"Now, go for the final blow!" The woman cried, putting all her energy into the line so my brother could hear her. With a thumbs-up, he held up his right hand to the new black cloudy sky. I did hopefully think that we wouldn't get wet but at that moment, I don't think that was the main priority my brother was concerned about.

"I call upon the 5 elements: Earth, water, fire, air and star to banish the great evil plaguing this world!" As he said each line, a circle appeared on the ground with colours symbols I couldn't understand.

"Each symbol represents an element; an element is what the earth is made from and most universes, Earth is at the bottom, represented by the mountain and the colour green. Water is on the left, that's the colour of the sea and sign of the tidal wave (not a very cheery symbol.) Fire on the right, air at the top and star; the obvious symbol, in the middle." I didn't honestly understand what she was saying very well but I knew whatever "elements" were. They had to be very important.

"Remind me to research them in my free time." She only nodded, turning back to a spectacle no other will or even ever see again. The white light surrounding my brother became brighter and brighter and brighter, I had to cover my eyes halfway before my eyes would hate me for the rest of my life. Eventually, the heart-shaped THING was at full power.

"Eternal Light!" His voice echoed as the blast made from just pure light eclipsed the monster, sending it back to where it came from... in shatters.

This, however, wasn't the thing that amazed me the most.

It was... a whirlpool of butterflies emerged from the wreckage which gave me raw shock. The raw energy from that spiral made my headbang in agony (A headache basically.) As I was so fixated on the wonder of the butterfly gavering, I never noticed the clouds clearing and the sun beaming down a raindow gleam from the heavens. Clearing up the wreckage the monster inflicted on the school grounds. My mind couldn't comprehend the wonder of this moment. I had no choice but to sit on the green bench located behind me before I would fall on the ground again. I couldn't take my eyes off the swerling vortex. Then, we noticed my brother emerging from it, sluggishly making his way back to us. He Looked warn out.

"Welcome back to reality!" The woman cried, jumping for joy almost bashing me in the arm! "Great job."

"Thanks but I've haven't finished yet." He turned slowly to me, holding his hands to his heart almost like he was praying, whispering quietly to himself. I experienced something before my world blacked out, a memory of me fighting Ciel and her lackeys flashed before me. Her growling face, her angry mob throwing me to the ground, giving me the scar on my forehead and her devilish grin. A grin that would make anyone's hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. Just before I completely went unconscious, I heard a small voice say:

"I'm sorry."

I awoke abruptly, shocked and confused. Why was I having dreams like that recently? My brother, having amazing powers and... angel wings! Yes, I always described my brother as ra angel but thata... THAT was rediculas. I tried to put that at the back of my head as I tried to enter the bathroom. Stumbling around as if I had too many fizzy drinks (Yes you actually CAN get drunk from drinking too much soda. I always learnt the hard way...). All I wanted was to wash my face with icy cold water, I believed it would get rid of those weird dreams I kept having for the past few days. I guess I was wrong when once again, pouring out of the taps was the same purple stary dust goo (If you could call it that.) It was slimy like goo but wasn't gloopy and fixed like ones you can buy for kids. More like a snails slime than anything. I immediately turned the valve of the cold tap to the right, seeing the last drop of the stuff slide into the plughole. "Well, so much for that idea," I thought as I lifted my head to the mirror, trying to force my body to carry out a simple task. Moving a tuff of hair to the side which revealed a mark. That mark on my forhead has always been there. A scar that indented the skin. However, I remember getting it by fighting Ciel and her mob as they tried to attack my brother. Not from dust and rumble flung around by an "Ionic Breaker" whatever that was. I pulled the handle of the bathroom light, forgetting that I left the creamy door open. I ventured downstairs to the kitchen.

To where my father's chair was located.

I was so glad the girl named "Stara" was careful like she said she would if anything happened to that chair... well, I didn't really want to think about it being a possibility. At first, I stumbled around the chair as if I was a merry go round, deciding if I would use the chair or not. I desided I would sit in his chair. I was hesitent but I did go through with my disision. It was so unconftible, no not in softness. More in the way of... awkwardness? I couldn't describe it, maybe a feeling of disclosure if that was even a word. I tried to change the subject to the chair itself. The legs strong as steel, the armrests had a strange liquid flowing into the end in a swirling motion which always feed my curiosity, the backboard was burned with curves and swirls, some of them were located at the top of the headboard as well. This, of course, had the largest swirl of the lot and finally, on the peak, each side of the chair were 2 orbs. When I was younger, I peared inside to my father's dismay. Revealing stars and galaxies inside swirling around, almost if universes like our own were inside. It honestly looked like something from a fairy tail.

However, even though I kept myself occupied with a drink of water and my mind with the design of the chair, I still felt awkward. The feeling was getting worse and worse by every second I stayed in that chair. This wouldn't stop me sitting in it though. Why should it? Through that thought, my eyes started to flutter close. Almost like, butterfly wings. I knew I didn't have the energy to crawl back up the stairs to my room, so instead, I curled up onto the chair. My legs huddled to chest as I started to blank out once more.

The last thing my eyes focused on before resting was a small yet strange butterfly on the arm rest. Gradually letting its feet slide down to the wooden floor as its wings fell with them, revealing the unusual colour:

orange...


End file.
